Taylor Hall is on the verge of signing a four-year extension with the Boston Bruins believed to be worth $24 million dollars. The contract carries an annual salary-cap hit of $6 million dollars. News of the signing broke via Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Hearing #NHLBruins have made meaningful progress with pending UFA Taylor Hall.
Expectation is Hall will indeed remain in Boston after the signing moratorium is lifted. Wouldn't be surprised to see a deal in the 4 years x $6 million neighborhood.
Stay tuned. @DFOHockey
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 21, 2021
Bruins Sign Taylor Hall to Extension
Boston acquired Taylor Hall from the Buffalo Sabres at the 2021 trade deadline. The full trade package saw Hall and Curtis Lazar sent to the Bruins in exchange for Anders Bjork and a second-round pick. Meanwhile, Buffalo retained 50 percent of Hall’s 8 million dollar cap hit.
Since being acquired, Hall has scored 11 goals and 19 points in 27 games for the Bruins. Those figures include his postseason production (3 goals and five points in 11 games).
Boston is Hall’s fourth team in two seasons. But despite his recent nomadic reputation, Hall is still a lethal offensive weapon and can make a huge difference to the Bruins’ second line. So far in his career, the 29-year-old winger has scored 226 goals and 593 points in 680 regular-season games.
Before the 2020-21 season, Hall decided to back himself in a prove-your-worth-it type deal by signing a one-year 8 million dollar contract with the Buffalo Sabres; the results could not have been worse. During his time in Buffalo, the Sabres went on a historic 18-game losing streak while their top-six shot a collective 6.19 percent at five-on-five. Hall himself managed only two goals and 19 points in 37 games.
As a result of his struggles, Boston managed to pick him up at a bargain price at the deadline, and have since locked him up for four years.
What This Means Going Forward
The Bruins have acted swiftly to secure Hall’s services beyond this season. Judging from this extension, it seems that general manager Don Sweeney knows there is only a finite number of years to capitalize on the talent of this group with veterans like Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask in their early-to-mid thirties.
Hall should slot in nicely as a complementary piece to the puzzle as opposed to being the focal point of the offence, which is what he prefers. While many still think of Hall as the 39-goal-scoring Hart Trophy-winner, the fact is that year was just a phenomenal outlier. However, the dynamic left winger is still a 50-60 point player whose elite skating ability is a weapon that, if utilized correctly, will wreak havoc in this league.
