The obligatory Taylor Hall post

Photo: Edmonton Journal

After the Edmonton Oilers fired Dallas Eakins, club GM Craig MacTavish said that no one is untouchable on the Oilers. Immediately, rumors started to fly that Taylor Hall was on the block, as the return he could net would bring in many valuable assets that would fill multiple holes. In Hall, the acquiring team would be getting an All Star winger and a game breaker. Of course, Ranger fans started with their own trade scenarios.

Before we get into what it would cost the Rangers to land Hall, it’s important to know what kind of player the Rangers would be getting. In 272 games thus far, Hall has put up 100-143-243, close to a point per game. Of those 243 points, 143 of them are at even strength, including 55 goals. Hall produces at all strengths, and doesn’t just rely on gaudy powerplay numbers. But for Hall, it goes beyond the numbers.

Despite playing on some pretty lousy –he hasn’t played a playoff game in his career– Oilers teams, Hall has still been a net positive possession player throughout his career. Last year was a rough one for Hall (44.4% CF), but he was still a positive relative CF player because the team was so bad. In fact, Hall has been a positive relative Corsi his entire career. Perhaps the most impressive aspect is that he drives possession despite playing with linemates that are not always positive possession players (chart courtesy of war-on-ice):

What this means is that Hall is the driving force for most of Edmonton’s offense while he’s on the ice. With all that talent –Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, Jordan Eberle, etc– it’s still Hall that is the focal point of that young core. This is the only year that Hall has played with linemates significantly above the 50% Corsi line. Hall is a rare talent that makes others around him better.

So what would it take for the Rangers to trade for him?

Well, the answer to that is pretty short: More than you’re willing to give up. Edmonton needs centers, defense, and goaltending. Naturally, Henrik Lundqvist is off the table. The conversation in a trade for Hall begins one of two ways: with Ryan McDonagh or with Derek Stepan and Dan Girardi. The Rangers aren’t trading McDonagh, and while dumping Girardi would be nice, it’s not worth it at the cost of Stepan. Trading Stepan would just create the same hole at 1C the Rangers had for years before Stepan and after Michael Nylander.

Basically, New York and Edmonton do not match up in a trade for Hall. It would be great to see Hall in blue, but I don’t see this happening.