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Toronto Maple Leafs: Does a Taylor Hall Trade Make Sense?

By Jordan Maresky

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres skates on the ice in the first period against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on January 24, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres skates on the ice in the first period against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on January 24, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 18: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres  . (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 18: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres  . (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs and Taylor Hall: Cons

1. Hall’s a very underwhelming goal scorer.

The biggest knock on Hall’s game has been his subpar finishing. Throughout his career, outside of his Hart Trophy 2017-18, Hall has generally scored well below expectation.

Since the start of 2016-17 season, Hall’s goals-scored above expected are as follows: six below expectation, 10 above expectation (MVP season), one below expectation, one below expectation, five below expectation, and seven below expectation this season (stats; Evolving-Hockey).

The Calgary native has been able to create a plethora of chances for him and his linemates, but if the Leafs are looking for offensive help on the trade market, are they willing to acquire a relatively underwhelming goal scorer?

2. Injury history.

During the 2018-19 season, Hall had been dealing with knee discomfort for most of the beginning portion of the season. After playing 33 games before the Christmas break, his season was cut short. Undergoing left knee arthroscopic surgery could not have been easy for the then-Devils assistant captain to have to go through, one season removed from that career year.

But that was not the first time Hall had had surgery to repair parts of his left knee. In 2016, Hall missed a couple of weeks following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus. For someone whose game relies on speed, any team acquiring Hall has to know if his legs are healthy enough to continue to make him effective.

3. Is this season a sign of a potential decline?

Shooting an absurdly low 2.5% this season, Hall surely has more to give. But Kyle Dubas would not be doing his due diligence if he did not wonder if this a larger sign of who Hall is at this stage of his career.

Ever since the Hart Trophy year, Hall’s shooting percentage has decreased each season at an alarming rate. What was 14% in 2017-18, became 9.7% in 2018-19, then 6.9% last season, and now the aforementioned 2.5% (stats; hockey-reference).

As Hall approaches 30 – he will turn 30 this November – one has to wonder if the two knee surgeries as well as father time has caught up to him.

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