Hall Dealt to Arizona

So it finally has happened. Taylor Hall, the subject of trade rumors for the last few weeks, has been sent to the Arizona Coyotes along with Blake Speers for a package that includes draft picks and prospects.

Hall and Speers were sent to the Coyotes in exchange for Arizona’s 2020 first-round selection (top three protected), their third-round pick in 2021 (conditional), defenseman Kevin Bahl and Nick Merkley and Nate Schnarr (both forwards) according to the Devils’ press release put out.

According to the press release, the conditions on the draft picks are: “If Arizona’s 2020 first-round selection is in the top three, New Jersey will receive Arizona’s first-round pick in 2021.” On the 2021 conditional pick, “the third-round pick in 2021 becomes a second-round selection if Arizona wins a Stanley Cup Playoff round OR Taylor Hall re-signs in Arizona. The third-round pick in 2021 becomes a first-round selection if Arizona wins a Stanley Cup Playoff round AND Taylor Hall re-signs in Arizona. If neither condition happens, New Jersey still receives the 2021 third-round pick.”

The centerpiece of this deal from the Devils’ perspective sees Bahl’s rights coming eastward. The 6-feet, seven-inch, 230-pound 19-year-old is a left-shooting defenseman (a hole the Devils needed to desperately fill) currently playing in the OHL for the Ottawa 67’s. He is one of the players at Canada’s World Junior Championship camp as well, so we could see even more of him in the coming weeks, as that tournament gets underway the day after Christmas in the Czech Republic.

The New Westminster, British Columbia native currently has five goals and 15 assists for 20 points this season for the 67’s. He also has 43 penalty minutes, which the press release notes puts him as the only d-man in the OHL with 20 points and over 40 penalty minutes this season.

The Devils currently have four draft picks playing with the 67’s: Bahl, Graeme Clark, Mitchell Hoelscher and Nikita Okhotyuk.

As for the other prospects acquired by New Jersey, Merkley is 22-years-old and 5-feet, 10-inches, 195-pounds. He shoots from the right side and is currently in the AHL for the Tucson Roadrunners, where he has three goals and 13 assists for 16 points over 26 games. He was an AHL All-Star in 2018 and was the first-round pick of the Coyotes (30th overall) in 2015.

Schnarr is 20-years-old and 6-feet, 3-inches, 180-pounds. He also currently plays in the American League for the Roadrunners and has one goal and eight assists for nine points in 22 games. He was the Coyotes’ third-round pick in 2017, 75th overall. He played last year with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario League, where he helped lead the team to the OHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup.

Both players are centers.

Good luck to Taylor Hall as he moves on in his career. There have been varying takes about his time here, but the fact is that the 2017-18 season where he essentially put the Devils on his back and got them to the playoffs en route to winning the Hart Trophy – the first Devil to do so – was simply amazing to watch. Hopefully Bahl pans out and fills the need the Devils have. Hall wanted more than anything to get a chance at a Stanley Cup and (believe it or not) he may have that shot in Arizona, who have been on top of the Pacific Division and, at the least, are headed to the playoffs.

Hall will wear number 91 for the Coyotes according to NHL Network’s NHL Now, which was one of the sources that broke the story.

Devils Blitz Pens at Prospects Challenge

The Devils’ rookies took the ice for their second game of the 2018 Prospects Challenge in Buffalo at HarborCenter and with the NFL season fully kicking off tomorrow, put up a football score on the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Devils won 6-2, after a five-goal outburst in the second period.

Brandon Gignac broke the seal on the game, scoring 12:32 into the first peirod from Yegor Sharangovich and Ryan Schmelzer. That goal came on the power play, on which the Devils went 2-for-10 on the afternoon.

The offensive cloudburst that came in the second began just 49 seconds into the new frame, with Blake Speers scoring from Brandon Baddock. That made it 2-0 Devils. Colby Sissons scored at 5:15 from Joey Anderson to make it 3-0 and the blitz was on.

At 6:42, Marian Studenic scored from John Quenneville to make it 4-0. Anderson notched his second point of the afternoon at 10:23 when he scored off an assist from Sissons to make it 5-0. Gignac wrapped up the Devils scoring at 13:45 of the second period when he connected from Jocktan Chainey on the power play to make it 6-0.

The Pens would break up the shutout, scoring two on the power play in the third (Troy Josephs at 7:19 and Adam Johnson at 10:35). Pittsburgh was 2-for-7 on the man advantage in the game.

After getting pushed around by the somewhat bigger and more physical Sabres yesterday, the Devils showed some fight today, literally, as Baddock fought Joseph Masonius at 19:05 of the third period. Baddock took the extra boarding minor on the play plus the fighting major.

Cam Johnson went between the pipes, making 32 saves on 34 Penguins shots for a .941 save percentage. For Pittsburgh, Tistan Cote-Cazenave started, stopping just 18 of 24 shots against. Christian Propp took over in net for the third period, turning aside all nine shots he faced.

The Devils finish up the 2018 Prospects Challenge on Monday when they take on the Boston Bruins at 9:30 AM.