Équipe: 2020-21 Coyotes de l'Arizona

Date de création initiale: 20 oct. 2020

Publié: 25 oct. 2020

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

@KakkoForMauriceRichardAward and I are back for the part III of that series. The goal is basically to see where each team would currently stand after reversing one bad or questionable trade.

The trade : On December 16, 2019, the New Jersey Devils trade Taylor Hall and Blake Speers to Arizona Coyotes for Kevin Bahl, Nathan Schnarr, Nick Merkley, conditional round 1 pick in the 2020 draft (Dawson Mercer) and conditional round 3 pick in the 2021 draft.

The context : The Arizona Coyotes were finally pushing towards a playoffs run for the first time in 7 years. GM Chayka acquired elite forward Taylor Hall in order to make that happen. They made the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round.

Arizona's side : While it was not a drastic overpayment, the trade doesn't look good for Arizona, now that the season is over. Not extending Taylor Hall in the trade was a huge mistake, as they were not real contenders. Hall has had a pretty good stint as a Coyote, but a short one. The prospect that they gave up were B prospects at best, so it's not a huge loss (so far). However, the 18th overall pick could have been useful for them as they lost their 2021 1st shortly after the trade. Small markets like Arizona don't really have the power and reputation to attract big free agents, so they should be trading their 1st round picks only for players with term or players who are willing to play there.

NJD side : Could they have had a better offer for Hall if they had waited a bit longer? Probably. However, the Devils are the clear winners of the trade. The decision to trade him was the right one, as they add some picks and prospects to the cupboard as they look to move forward now. The Devils have a good young nucleus started and are only looking to improve on that. This trade allows them to now focus more on the future of the team.