That's fine if you want to look at it through that lens. I do not agree but if that's your takeaway i can see the sense in what you are saying. I also believe 2020 is a better draft than 2019 so teams are even more likely to hold onto their 1sts

Why not? he's trending down. Isn't producing as expected, skating concerns aren't getting better. That team is built to win now. Trade him while he has value

you don't want another seth jones situation

The team trading the best player loses the deal 99% of the time. Especially at the trade deadline. I see these deals as realistic, teams don't want to trade their 1sts or top prospects for rentals. If you want to argue over conditional picks here and there sure, go for it. But it certainly isn't going to be Byram and a 1st coming back from COL or Drouin+ from MTL

Jones was never trending down, Jones was a stud 4th overall pick who couldn't get time on a very deep blueline swapped for a potential 1st line center that NSH desperately needed

If Kevin Hayes can fetch a 1st rounder, a conditional 4th and Brendan Lemieux I'm positive Taylor Hall can bring back a top prospect and 1st rounder. Every year around the deadline there are teams who overpay just like there are teams that underpay. I think you're underestimating Shero and the current market

I'd turn that around and say a lot of people are overestimating Hall, in terms of his value and how good of a player he is

Hall has 22 points in 27 games on a team that is horrible right now. He would do way better on any playoff team. Since when is 22 points in 27 games bad anyway? It is turning into a bidding game and if you think the highest bidder won't be offering a 1st round pick you are incredibly incompetent.

When I hear people say he is worth 12M, I agree with you. Although, as a 6M playoff rental I think you highly underestimate his value...

I'm incompetent because I can look at past deals rather than just jump to a conclusion? Nice to see you have to result to insults to try and make a point. Get over yourself

22 in 27 points is not a point per game which is usually considered (perhaps arbitrarily) as a cutoff for elite talent. As stated above, Hall is ranked 403 out of 460 forwards in the league for Goals above replacement. Saying he'd do better on a better team is completely losing sight of things. If Hall is such an elite player than he should be able to produce like one in all situations rather than looking like a sub replacement level forward who's getting their points based on ice time and favorable deployment.

Also, Corey Masisak The Athletic looked at 5 in season trades (Stone, Duchene, Staal, Gaborik and Kovalchuk) to come up with a realistic return for Hall. Duchene and Kovalchuk were the only two that included 1st round picks. I tend to value centers (especially a 1/1A like Duchene) over wingers and the Kovalchuk trade was almost 10 years ago. Stone and Gaborik were both top tier wingers moved in deals that did not include 1st round picks.

So just to clarify, I'm "incredibly incompetent" for paying attention to past deals and coming up with a projection of what I think is likely rather than just spouting out crap about a 1st round pick being the only way a trade gets done? It's also pretty clear you don't know anything about pick value, they drop off immensely after the top 20. Arguing for a high 20 first instead of a mid 40-50 and a good prospect is a gross misuse of assets

Woah! I had to search a bit for this thread, but did I call it, or did I call it? I knew Arizona was seriously interested. Awesome

You called it. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting the main piece right (Bahl). I still think they did even worse than I thought they would

I think the Devils out pretty well. I really liked Nate Schnarr when I saw him in the OHL. Skates fairly well for a kid that's 6'3, good shot, decent hands. Reminds me a lot of Lawson Crouse, but less of the rough and tumble game. Kevin Bahl is also a solid pick up. None of these prospects, or Merkley, are going to be franchise-altering BUT, I could see each of these players making an impact on an NHL roster someday soon. The first round pick is obviously a gem to what will be quite a deep 1st round round draft this summer.

Here's how I read the trade
-Bahl - potential 4/5 defender that's main calling card is being big. Minimal offensive upside. Sounds like he's mobile enough but he's not going to be a PP guy
-Schnarr - bottom 6 center with minimal offensive upside
-Merkley - the way he plays the game he has to be on a scoring line. He's boom or bust with boom being a middle 6 winger.
-1st rounder - maybe in the 23-25 range? yes it's a deep draft but the Devils scouting lately has been a little questionable and the player taken here is 3-4 years away
-conditional - another lottery ticket that won't be cashed in until next year. I'd guess it's a 2nd but another player that's a long ways away from making an impact if he does at all

Contrast all that with the Devils being perpetually rebuilding and it's not a good look. I think they would have been better targeting a developed prospect or more picks in this draft than fixating on getting a 1st. Kinda seems like they wanted quantity over quality

Yeah, maybe when you get a bigger pot of cusp NHLers (to a degree, at least) there is more of a percentage 1 of 3 breaks through, plus the picks working out, then say, 1 of 1 prospects, plus maybe a higher pick (or non-conditional?) - Always risk involved. I think Schnarr could be a pretty decent #3 center, maybe #2? He showed some knack for net front presence playing for Guelph. He might be more suited to a power forward wing role at the NHL level. Bahl, hard to say. He could become that shut down guy plus top PK. Those guys still have pretty good value. Anyway, I think the Devils made out okay. Not sure there was going to ever be a better offer on the table for a rental, unless the Oilers (or some other team) really got tremendously desperate.

We're looking at it from different lenses which is fine. My take is quality over quantity. Yes if you get 3 players there's a higher chance 1 breaks through. But those bottom of the lineup types are a dime a dozen. They desperately need top level talent. For example I love how Ottawa got Brannstrom for Stone. He's got a really high ceiling. These guys don't have that