Taylor Hall, photos courtesy of Arizona Coyotes Three years ago, Taylor Hall made light of his influential powers when his New Jersey Devils won the 2017 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select center Nico Hischier with the top pick. When Hall turned the trick again in 2019, affording the Devils the right to draft center Jack Hughes at No. 1 overall, the 2018 Hart Trophy winner put his achievements in perspective.
i have to say, i do hope Chayka and Ferris can finagle something together.
a) the anonymity angle might be a big player here. the Coyotes aren't exactly the most eye-catching sports team in the Valley of the Sun, so it's pretty easy for a hockey player to go grocery-shopping and not have anybody recognize him. Edmonton is Edmonton, and even New Jersey is still within the Tri-State Area and gets a lot of bleed-over media coverage.
b) there's always the weather. fans don't necessarily seem to take that into account as much, but players certainly do. like, you really think Jeremy Roenick's gonna give up how nice the weather is in Scottsdale to move back to... Boston? heck no.
c) if Hall really wants to be a star player on a team, here's a team that currently doesn't really have anybody with that electric and dynamic element. he doesn't have to fight for minutes with other star players: he *is* the star player.
d) above all else, Hall might just be sick and tired of bouncing around between organizations. we can't just blindly slap the prime directive of "make as much money as possible" onto people like we can in economics. there are other factors at play.
I wonder how much the flat cap will hinder Chayka’s ability to create the necessary cap space to re-sign Hall, if Taylor actually has any interest in remaining a Coyote. There will be a lot of teams looking to trade players who’s cap hits outweigh their effectiveness. It might be a tough sell.
Looking at the Coyotes roster, there aren’t very many players that are overpaid (from a cap to production standpoint). Kessel fits the bill, but he has a NMC and there likely wouldn’t be much interest in him anyway. Stepan is great, but his cap hit vastly outweighs his production. Grabner is probably only moveable if Chayka attaches an asset. I don’t see a Chayka moving Keller or Schmaltz.
The only defenseman that’s overpaid is OEL who has a NMC. The rest of the blue line (apart from maybe Oesterle, who isn’t paid enough to matter) seem to be well worth their cap hits. Raanta is a wonderful luxury, but makes a lot for a rarely available (albeit outright elite) back-up.
One interesting thing is that both Stepan and Raanta are due only $2m each in actual salary, despite carrying a combined 10.75aav cap hit. That should make them attractive to any budget team (think pre-Meruelo Coyotes) that isn’t concerned with the salary cap, only real dollars. Ottawa and New Jersey fit the bill. Possibly Detroit. Neither player has any trade protection in their contract (Stepan’s was voided when traded from NYC).
I wonder if Chayka’s pride would allow him to trade Stepan and Raanta to a team like Ottawa for a negligible return, after having just paid a king’s ransom for the duo just three years ago. If it meant keeping Hall, I’d certainly do it.
I know there is obviously a lot of on the ice content for you to write with training camps and the bubble quickly approaching. Do you anticipate an interview with Xavier Gutierrez before the restart?
Are we going to be spoiled with a daily post from you or how often do you anticipate posting?
I know what Nattie Hattie said about their doubts of fans being at the games at the start of the next season beginning December 1st ...
These researcher brains gotta get a vaccine out there if not that, I’ll sign a waiver..
Trying to relive my past life of 60-80 mile running weeks is proving tougher than I expected and I’m ready to get back to more realistic goals like catching my 6th foul puck and my 3rd 50/50.
A hockey podcast I heard indicated high end free agents may lean towards a 1 to 2 year bridge deal to max out on a deal later, considering current situations. May bode well for AZ?
I think hockey players are generally underrated when it comes to how smart they actually are - the game is fast and ever evolving, they have to think and react in a split second - those plays the coach hastily scribbles out on the white board are out the window almost as soon as the puck drops. Although well-spoken we all know about the interview code....
Thanks Craig ...it feels like Taylor brought what they expected out of Kessel to the team...an elite player in his prime. With Phil healthy finally, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do. And a healthy OEL with a different mindset.
Don't the Coyotes need cap room to sign Hall? If so, our ability to re-sign him rests on Chayka's ability to get a Stan Bowman or Peter Chiarelli to take Grabner, Stepan, Goligoski or... and I may be ahead of the curve in suggesting this, but ... OEL?
Craig, we all know Phil loves working out in the offseason. Do you think he was doing lots of box jumps in his downtime, or will he be fatter than usual? And is $7m a season for a 40 point scorer a good deal for the team? Thanks!
Since we know the team wasn't making any playoffs w/o Covid setting up this extended tournament, do you think Muerelo cancels Chayka and Tocchet bringing in his own people as he did dumping Cohen? Is this first series v. Nashville make or break for mgmt? I mean they are playing in the worst division in the league, and they spent up to the cap. Still weren't making it. That's not good gm'ing....
Happy with the lack of “Taylor Hall ruins team chemistry” comments so far
If we lose to the Preds, we have a 12.5% chance at LaFreniere... if we beat the Preds, do we have a 12.5% chance at re-signing Taylor Hall?
God I hope we re-sign him. It's been forever since we've had an electric player to watch.
i have to say, i do hope Chayka and Ferris can finagle something together.
a) the anonymity angle might be a big player here. the Coyotes aren't exactly the most eye-catching sports team in the Valley of the Sun, so it's pretty easy for a hockey player to go grocery-shopping and not have anybody recognize him. Edmonton is Edmonton, and even New Jersey is still within the Tri-State Area and gets a lot of bleed-over media coverage.
b) there's always the weather. fans don't necessarily seem to take that into account as much, but players certainly do. like, you really think Jeremy Roenick's gonna give up how nice the weather is in Scottsdale to move back to... Boston? heck no.
c) if Hall really wants to be a star player on a team, here's a team that currently doesn't really have anybody with that electric and dynamic element. he doesn't have to fight for minutes with other star players: he *is* the star player.
d) above all else, Hall might just be sick and tired of bouncing around between organizations. we can't just blindly slap the prime directive of "make as much money as possible" onto people like we can in economics. there are other factors at play.
I wonder how much the flat cap will hinder Chayka’s ability to create the necessary cap space to re-sign Hall, if Taylor actually has any interest in remaining a Coyote. There will be a lot of teams looking to trade players who’s cap hits outweigh their effectiveness. It might be a tough sell.
Looking at the Coyotes roster, there aren’t very many players that are overpaid (from a cap to production standpoint). Kessel fits the bill, but he has a NMC and there likely wouldn’t be much interest in him anyway. Stepan is great, but his cap hit vastly outweighs his production. Grabner is probably only moveable if Chayka attaches an asset. I don’t see a Chayka moving Keller or Schmaltz.
The only defenseman that’s overpaid is OEL who has a NMC. The rest of the blue line (apart from maybe Oesterle, who isn’t paid enough to matter) seem to be well worth their cap hits. Raanta is a wonderful luxury, but makes a lot for a rarely available (albeit outright elite) back-up.
One interesting thing is that both Stepan and Raanta are due only $2m each in actual salary, despite carrying a combined 10.75aav cap hit. That should make them attractive to any budget team (think pre-Meruelo Coyotes) that isn’t concerned with the salary cap, only real dollars. Ottawa and New Jersey fit the bill. Possibly Detroit. Neither player has any trade protection in their contract (Stepan’s was voided when traded from NYC).
I wonder if Chayka’s pride would allow him to trade Stepan and Raanta to a team like Ottawa for a negligible return, after having just paid a king’s ransom for the duo just three years ago. If it meant keeping Hall, I’d certainly do it.
I know there is obviously a lot of on the ice content for you to write with training camps and the bubble quickly approaching. Do you anticipate an interview with Xavier Gutierrez before the restart?
Are we going to be spoiled with a daily post from you or how often do you anticipate posting?
I know what Nattie Hattie said about their doubts of fans being at the games at the start of the next season beginning December 1st ...
These researcher brains gotta get a vaccine out there if not that, I’ll sign a waiver..
Trying to relive my past life of 60-80 mile running weeks is proving tougher than I expected and I’m ready to get back to more realistic goals like catching my 6th foul puck and my 3rd 50/50.
Easier goals.
And that’s my opinion this morning.
A hockey podcast I heard indicated high end free agents may lean towards a 1 to 2 year bridge deal to max out on a deal later, considering current situations. May bode well for AZ?
I think hockey players are generally underrated when it comes to how smart they actually are - the game is fast and ever evolving, they have to think and react in a split second - those plays the coach hastily scribbles out on the white board are out the window almost as soon as the puck drops. Although well-spoken we all know about the interview code....
This guy is just on another level.
I sure hope he likes it here and wants to play here.
I won his Dbacks night sweater at the auction so he’s gotta like it here and want to play here.
Thanks Craig ...it feels like Taylor brought what they expected out of Kessel to the team...an elite player in his prime. With Phil healthy finally, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do. And a healthy OEL with a different mindset.
Don't the Coyotes need cap room to sign Hall? If so, our ability to re-sign him rests on Chayka's ability to get a Stan Bowman or Peter Chiarelli to take Grabner, Stepan, Goligoski or... and I may be ahead of the curve in suggesting this, but ... OEL?
Craig, we all know Phil loves working out in the offseason. Do you think he was doing lots of box jumps in his downtime, or will he be fatter than usual? And is $7m a season for a 40 point scorer a good deal for the team? Thanks!
Since we know the team wasn't making any playoffs w/o Covid setting up this extended tournament, do you think Muerelo cancels Chayka and Tocchet bringing in his own people as he did dumping Cohen? Is this first series v. Nashville make or break for mgmt? I mean they are playing in the worst division in the league, and they spent up to the cap. Still weren't making it. That's not good gm'ing....