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The 1st Big Toronto Maple Leafs Rumour of the Offseason

By Stephen Nixon |
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 13: Taylor Hall #71 of the Boston Bruins skates during the first period of a game against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on April 13, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 13: Taylor Hall #71 of the Boston Bruins skates during the first period of a game against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on April 13, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

The 2020-21 season is officially over, so let the Toronto Maple Leafs offseason rumors begin.

As reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have interest in signing Taylor Hall this offseason.

Taylor Hall is such a fascinating player. The first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft has played on four teams in the last two seasons and is incredibly gifted, but probably isn’t worth $8M per season.

However, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a team spend that much again on him, because of how he played in Boston and the hardware he’s won in the past.

Thanks to that magical season in 2017-18 where he won the Hart Trophy, he’ll be able to cash big cheques for the rest of his life.

Toronto Maple Leafs Are Rumored To Have Interest in Taylor Hall

Darren Dreger mentioned the following in regards to Taylor Hall and the Toronto Maple Leafs this week:

“But there’s outside interest as well, including from the Toronto Maple Leafs, which may surprise some. Toronto has interest, I’m sure, if they can’t get Zach Hyman signed, or depending on what happens with Freddy Andersen (via: TSN.ca).”

If Zach Hyman doesn’t re-sign with the Leafs, the team will desperately need to find another top-six left-winger. However, does Taylor Hall really make sense?

Sure, he’s exceptionally talented, fast and can score, but at what price-point does it really work? The salary cap isn’t going up and the team already has $40M committed to four forwards, so does spending another $6-8M on one player make this team substantially better?

I think it makes them a little better, but I’m not sure how much.

As shown by the Tampa Bay Lightning over the past two years, you need your best players to show up in the playoffs. I don’t trust Hall enough to be that player with the Leafs next year.

I don’t really trust Auston Matthews or Mitch Marner right now either, but those two are top-10 players in the NHL, so you need to have hope that they will finally get it going in the spring.

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If the Leafs sign Hall, it will be a terrible decision, unless for some miracle they can sign him for $5M or less. Since that’s not going to happen, let’s hope these Hall rumors fizzle out soon and we can start focusing on some other, and cheaper, players to join the Leafs during free agency.

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