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Are The Toronto Maple Leafs Involved in the Taylor Hall Sweepstakes?

By Lucas Bolt

NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 18: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Taylor Hall #9 of the New Jersey Devils skate after the puck during the first period at the Prudential Center on December 18, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 18: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Taylor Hall #9 of the New Jersey Devils skate after the puck during the first period at the Prudential Center on December 18, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled to find consistency this season.

Taylor Hall is on the market and has been linked with multiple teams, mainly the Blues and Coyotes.  The Toronto Maple Leafs have not been mentioned among those in hot pursuit of the star winger.

The Leafs are in the midst of an up and down season with no real sense of identity. Mike Babcock wanted to play a more defensive, grinding kind of game, but since Sheldon Keefe was hired,  they are now playing a possession-based, high tempo game which more suits the dynamic of this team and the philosophy the GM Kyle Dubas envisioned.

The Toronto Maple Leafs definitely have the skill to make the playoffs, but will be the force they were expected to be is another question.  The conventional wisdom is that the Leafs would improve their defense if they were going to add to their roster, but Dubas has been a master of confounding the expectations of the traditional hockey media.

Adding another high scoring winger would seem like a strange move, given the general makeup of the current roster, but the Leafs don’t have any left wingers close to as good as Hall, and Dubas has shown a preference for offense.

Dubas’ philosophy isn’t to play a lockdown game and have his team be the best in the league in defensive stats. He wants to see his team score as many goals as possible. Therefore, Hall would be a welcomed addition.

What would it take to get Hall?

Taylor Hall, a 6’1 205lb LW who is 28 years old, is in the final year of his deal paying him $6,000,000.

The former 1st overall pick has 6 goals and 25 points in 30 games this year and is on pace for 65-70 points. The most points he has managed to get was in the 2017-2018 season where he got 39 goals and 93 points in 76 games. (Cap Friendly.com)

Taylor Hall deserves to be on a good team that is offence driven, and the Toronto Maple Leafs could be the perfect home for him.

The Leafs would need to include one of Andreas Johnson or Kasperi Kapanen in any trade for Hall, but that wouldn’t be enough. The Senators last year received Eric Branstrom, Oscar Lindberg, and a second for Mark Stone.  

At the bare minimum you’d have to think it would cost at least Kapanan, one of Liljegren/Robertson/Sandin and a first.

The lines would then look something like this:

Hall-Matthews-Nylander

Hyman-Tavares-Marner

Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Engvall

Moore-Spezza-Gauthier/Timashov

The Leafs would undoubtedly have the best top-six in the league

Hall plays hard and would bring an elite MVP skillset to the Toronto Maple Leafs that would make them one of the craziest offensive teams assembled in recent memory.  He is a dominant first line player, and could help Matthews reach his potential of superstar status.

Next. An Aggressive Move the Leafs Should Seriously Consider. dark

Whether a deal like this could happen is all in the air, but is something Dubas should definitely take a good look at.

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