Hall in hindsight?

[achdumeingute]

Without a doubt. But give me any of those guys overpaid along with Ghost on this team than having Hall and not Ghost. That's the point I'm trying to make. Yes wingers as good as Hall rarely hit the market. But you can get good wingers easier than you can a Dman like Ghost.

It's just the wrong time. With the good scouting we have, we shouldn't trade 1/2 round picks for the forseeable future.

Stock this cupboard with outstanding talent, and in 4 years a trade some of those partially developed guys for talent.

This is basically what the Kings did.

 

[Tripod]

Should we just ignore that Hall also makes 5 million more than Ghost so we would also have to shed more players?

How about this...keep the D until they are proven and we DO have too many good and, then deal one away if we need winger...or C help.

People want to make moves too early. We have no issue with too many good D....just the potential to have that issue.

Luckily, Hextall has a plan and will stick with it.

 

[phlocky]

Defense wins championships. Hextall knows this, he won 2 with the Kings. Look at the team he is building here. Look at who he has drafted. He's taking forwards that play a 200 foot game, not just a 30 foot game like Hall. Is Hall talented, by all means yes. However, he mails it in when in the defensive zone and that's not the kind of player we need here. We are going to get bigger at forward, we will play and even better TEAM defense and be a tougher team to play than last year.

Make no mistake about it, switch Ghost with Hall last year and we don't make the playoffs. To really appreciate just how good Ghost is you have to watch him live and see what he does away from the puck. His vision and understanding of the game reminds me of when G first came up, he has that kind of talent and ability.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Talking about trading Ghost for Taylor Hall when we can sign Okposo or Ericsson and keep everyone. What a time to be alive.

ermmm? Didn't they all sign?

 

[Beef Invictus]

ghost doesnt really give you great defense.

Hall would make us a 2 line team. Coots is not going to have the luxury of playing with simmer and voracek this year. IF you got him Hall he would reap the benefits of that and they could compliment each other so well.

Id do hall in a heart beat, and I am shocked people here wouldn't. This is the same fan base that would not trade 9 for morin. That is silly.

We were a two line team last year. Hence why, when Couts was injured against Washington, we became a one line team.


Please, try to set your baffling hatred of Couturier aside prior to posting.

 

[FadeToBlack]

Hall is a really solid player. Would I give up Ghost or Prov for him? No. But with G and Jake, I feel like he would be a consistent 30 goal, 60 point guy.

That said, what this team needs isn't a guy like Hall. They need a shoot first winger, preferably LW. They have none on the team now and none in the system. Don't mention Konecny, he said in an interview last year that he considers himself more a playmaker than a shooter. That is why I was really hoping Hexy would find a way to package some picks and a prospect (1st, 2nd, next year's 1st + prospect not named Konecny, Provorov, Sanheim, or Morin) for the #2 overall, Patrick Laine. Laine will pot 40 goals multiple times in his career IMHO. Might break 50 too.

 

[Random Forest]

For my money, Hall might be the most overrated player in the league. If we're talking about trading Ghost (absurd), I'd have several players far and away ahead of Hall.

NJ got pretty good value, but I don't think Hall will be even close to being a franchise forward for them, and that's what they need. He's a guy who can go ice cold and be a serious detriment to the team when not scoring goals.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Edmonton's ownership & management propped them guys up to be saviors before they even touched the ice. These guys were allowed to play some of the most irresponsible hockey ever played over the years because of it. These guys are gonna need to be broken down & reprogramed because that bs type of hockey isn't going to be tolerated by most clubs. That's why most clubs don't value them as much as maybe their skill levels suggest they should.

Hall's a really skilled player but he was the worst abusers of this over the years.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Yeah. Look at even the change in Gagner last year. He started out as one of the least physical players I can recall, who never went within ten feet of the boards. A season later and he was actually initiating contact and competing in puck battles, and getting back on D instead of floating. Its the De-Edmontonification process. Yak and Hall will need the same treatment, once Yak is moved for damned near nothing

That's why I hate so much talent going to them annually. They throw the kids straight into the fire and let them do whatever. They develop a brand of soft hockey that wouldn't work in any NHL era. Their management is too delusional to see it. I assume they're trying to bring back the 80s/90s, that's the only half-rational explanation. More likely they have no clear clue what they're doing.

 

[Gsus]

I wouldn't trade Ghost for Hall. Ghost can improve his defense and it is notch better than an average guy his size. Once he gets some muscle he can play the body more. He has a great stick and instincts to interrupt passes.

I would like a guy like Hall in there, but not for Ghost. And Edmonton would've probably skipped him anyways since they were so hard in on that RHD with steady defensive game.

Konecny will grow to be the player we need in TOP6.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Trading Hall for Ghost helps move us back to where we were. Plenty of forward talent that spends most of its time on an island with no support from behind.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

while I don't ever expect Ghost to be an elite defensive player, he should grow to be a very good on the defensive side of the puck. he doesn't need to need to be a physical player to be effective. His high hockey IQ will make up for any lack of physical play he doesn't have.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Yeah. Look at even the change in Gagner last year. He started out as one of the least physical players I can recall, who never went within ten feet of the boards. A season later and he was actually initiating contact and competing in puck battles, and getting back on D instead of floating. Its the De-Edmontonification process. Yak and Hall will need the same treatment, once Yak is moved for damned near nothing.

Gagner's security blanket was coming to an end in that ridiculous contract Edmonton's ownership handed him years ago this year. So that played a part in it too. Everything about him is average to below average so you could just see the desperation in him at times this year. He was dropping the gloves for christ sakes.

He just seemed like a guy who knew his days were numbered playing in this league this year & was going to be year to year process from here on out.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Trading Hall for Ghost helps move us back to where we were. Plenty of forward talent that spends most of its time on an island with no support from behind.

Even the thought of it makes me sick. I wouldn't want him here in exchange for any of our assets, especially Ghost. Having said that, Hall did tear us a new one in that 4-0 loss last season, so I'm not looking forward to seeing him more often. But New Jersey should take the sparkle out of his play and dull him down like they do with most of their forwards. Also, Provy could put him in his back pocket. I think the kids call that "pwning" him?

 

[Random Forest]

Devils fans seem to think Hall will be their new Kovalchuk which is pretty amusing to me. Kovalchuk was a much more dynamic player than Hall.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Edmonton fans routinely listed him or pushed him as a possible top 5 forward and that always baffled me.

 

[Striiker]

It's funny that anyone would think Hall is a franchise changing forward... didn't anyone pay attention to his time in Edmonton? Obviously Edmontons failures aren't his fault, but he clearly wasn't enough to save a team by himself... why would he suddenly be able to do that now?

 

[Beef Invictus]

I think he can be a very solid, major core piece though. But he doesn't have enough impact in all situations.

 

[BackWithaVengeance]

Edmonton's ownership & management propped them guys up to be saviors before they even touched the ice. These guys were allowed to play some of the most irresponsible hockey ever played over the years because of it. These guys are gonna need to be broken down & reprogramed because that bs type of hockey isn't going to be tolerated by most clubs. That's why most clubs don't value them as much as maybe their skill levels suggest they should.

Hall's a really skilled player but he was the worst abusers of this over the years.

To be fair, Hall's at the exact right place therefor.

 

[Alchemy]

Hall is so overrated. Elite complementary winger for your franchise center but he isn't a franchise level winger.

 

[Striiker]

Just read some of the Devils board... "Elite offensive superstar" "franchise changing talent" and all other kinds of posts that make me think they're expecting a bit much. Some even saying how they expect a career year and that he's only going to get better.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him take a hit in point totals now that he has less offensive talent around him and he's not going to be able to completely neglect the defensive side of the game.

I look forward to their disappointment. Just like last year when we beat them and their GDT thread was full of posts saying stuff along the lines of "well at least we get to watch our team in the playoffs this year, let philly fans celebrate this meaningless regular season game"... And then we ended up in the playoffs with them on the outside.

 

[phlocky]

In discussing the Edmonton players, I'd like to see us pick up Yak, bring him in here and try him as a reclamation project. I think he could be had for a 2nd at this point. The kid does have talent and he apparently worked hard last year but with no direction. I know he plays the right side where we are already deep but if we can get him playing a team game with structure, he's go serious scoring ability. Put him with Coots and Jake on the 2nd line and see how he does

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

In discussing the Edmonton players, I'd like to see us pick up Yak, bring him in here and try him as a reclamation project. I think he could be had for a 2nd at this point. The kid does have talent and he apparently worked hard last year but with no direction. I know he plays the right side where we are already deep but if we can get him playing a team game with structure, he's go serious scoring ability. Put him with Coots and Jake on the 2nd line and see how he does

I will say one thing about Yak. I watched several Oilers games last year, maybe as many as 15. Most of them I was sort of just watching in the background while I did other things. But there was one game that I was watching more closely and the Edmonton commentators were going over a replay and complaining about how Yak needed to work hard and track back and that this is what the coaching staff had been trying to drill into him - but in the replay in question, Yak was clearly hustling back to chip in on defense. I mean, he was clearly motoring and doing his best to contribute. I'm not trying to suggest that all of the complaints about him were unjustified and that he always contributed and worked hard, but it did make me wonder if maybe the narrative had gained so much speed that there was no way to ramp it back so it more clearly reflected reality - in other words, maybe Yak - while being a gross disappointment - isn't quite as useless or unsalvageable as is being made out. I'm not sure.

With my own eyes, more than once, I watched Brett Hull skate off the ice for the bench - right afterward, there was a scramble in front of the net and they couldn't tell who scored. The goal was credited to Brett Hull. This happened at least twice, right in front of my eyes. I'm only saying this for two reasons: 1) I hate Brett Hull, and 2) you can't always believe what you hear - better to use your eyes and make up your own mind.

 

[PALE PWNR]

Kovalchuk was so awesome. Like the only forward that averaged 24 minutes a night every year. Averaged like 1-2 minutes a night in PK time, would spend the whole 2 minutes on every PP, and would doubleshift himself on 4th lines when he wanted to. Guy was a beast.

 

[phlocky]

Well, I didn't see a tin of Oilers games last year but the ones I did see I thought Yak worked pretty hard, more so than most of their elite forwards. The problem to me appeared that he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, ie - no direction, no discipline. I think he has heart, I think he really does care. Their entire team was undisciplined last year and Yak to me seems to be more of a follower, he's not a leader. I think that with the right direction he can be a better, more skilled version of Raffl.