Confirmed with Link: Taylor Hall Acquired for Adam Larsson

[ChicoEatsNachos]

A co-worker of mine who is a Rangers fan had this to say about the Hall trade (figured I share it because it's funny): "If I were a Devils fan, I'd be dancing and singing like a wood elf for the rest of the off-season."

That is an amazing quote, thanks for sharing. I was in the middle of teaching a class when the actual trade went down but I saw the NHL notification as soon as I was done and I did this weird skip/jump thing and almost hit a student with my gigantic work purse in the hallway from excitement.

I am so desperate for the season to start.

 

[MoonDragn]

Look at the goals for, shots for, points/60 when Severson was on the ice vs Larsson and Greene....it's not even in the same realm.

And your numbers aren't correct Severson led the defense in 5v5 scoring with about 30% time.

What about zone starts and quality of competition?

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

That is an amazing quote, thanks for sharing. I was in the middle of teaching a class when the actual trade went down but I saw the NHL notification as soon as I was done and I did this weird skip/jump thing and almost hit a student with my gigantic work purse in the hallway from excitement.

I am so desperate for the season to start.

Glad you like the quote. It summed up my inner feelings of glee at the Hall trade very well. I'm still so excited thinking about him on the Devils. I think this is the kind of move that can define a franchise for years.

And your skip-jump is exactly what I wanted to do when I got the notification for the trade. Just so much excitement right now.

 

[Tundra]

The revisionist history with Larsson is pretty rich right now. Being compared to Volchenkov and Salvador? Some saying Severson has shown more than him? Oh man come on.

Severson is not better than Larsson under any circumstances. Larsson is on another planet defensively and he never was given the green light to showcase his offense.

 

[MoonDragn]

Severson is not better than Larsson under any circumstances. Larsson is on another planet defensively and he never was given the green light to showcase his offense.

Agreed. I think people are still underrating Larsson even though they saw a piece of the potential last season.

 

[Emperoreddy]

We unquestionably got the better player in this trade.

Not enough Hall talk going on, and how he changes the dynamic of this team.

 

[Devils Army]

Hall seems Parise like when I see his highlights

 

[Colin226]

Severson is not better than Larsson under any circumstances. Larsson is on another planet defensively and he never was given the green light to showcase his offense.

I'm not saying one player is better than the other, but Severson is definitely the flashier player

 

[MadDevil]

Severson is not better than Larsson under any circumstances. Larsson is on another planet defensively and he never was given the green light to showcase his offense.

I don't think there's really that much more offense to showcase. He's a great passer, but his shot release is painfully slow and his skating is always going to hold him back offensively. I'm sure he'll put up more points merely by playing with guys like McDavid, RNH, Eberle, Draisatl, Puljurarvi, who should be able to do more with those great passes.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

We unquestionably got the better player in this trade.

Not enough Hall talk going on, and how he changes the dynamic of this team.

I'm ecstatic with the trade. Was shocked at first but came around really quick. Hall changes our franchise completely and is exactly what we needed. That said, I hate the way Larsson is being dumped on around the league and by some posters here (who have been pushing their agenda pre-trade). Larsson isn't some dime a dozen stay at home goon like some goofs are saying. He's a great young player and he's left a gaping hole in our D, now and in the future.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I think Larsson is going to have a good season and prove a lot of people around the league wrong, but I also believe that Severson might impress a lot of fans around here as well, because I still think both Larsson and Severson have a lot of potential and are good players. I'm happy we still have Severson, sad that Larsson is gone, but off the charts excited about having Hall. I think Hall can take us to the playoffs as soon as next season.

 

[Oneiro]

Most of my enthusiasm about the future was centered around having a D with BOTH Larsson and Severson.

There are legitimate questions about both players' potential and now you see the flaws of one being trotted out and the flaws of the other smoothed over. People (sports fans) are so predictable at times.

 

[TaiMaiShu]

2 years ago people were seriously considering Larrson for Yakupov. So much awesome. Hope he takes 22.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

2 years ago people were seriously considering Larrson for Yakupov. So much awesome. Hope he takes 22.

That puts things into perspective. We also got a first overall without needing to tank.

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

That puts things into perspective. We also got a first overall without needing to tank.

I was thinking about that earlier in the week, how would we ever get an elite offensive talent like Kovy ever again? Young stars are getting locked up long term, we don't have enough to trade for one and we will likely never be bad enough with Schneider to have that super high pick to get a guaranteed superstar. A few days later we are sitting with Taylor ****ing Hall

 

[beekay414]

I was mid-nap when I got the ESPN alert that we got Hall. I figured we had added on to Larsson and got afraid that it was someone significant. Saw it was a straight 1-for-1 deal and immediately let out an embarrassing yelp.

Hall single-handedly changes our franchise. No doubt about it. I loved Larsson but Hall is someone we absolutely needed. I know the value of defensemen is through the roof right now but the match was just made in heaven. I truly believe in Santini and Severson so I'm not all that worried long term. There will be bumps in the road on the defensive end next year but we have the best goaltender in hockey on our back end.

I'm going to be patient but I fully expected this as an accelerated rebuild move but when we struck out on Okposo (and I don't blame them on that term and $$$) and Eriksson, I kinda tempered my expectations. Lovejoy is a solid signing so I can't get upset there.

We'll be a back end playoff team next year, I think and then in 2017-2018, we'll make the next jump to potential cup contenders.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I was thinking about that earlier in the week, how would we ever get an elite offensive talent like Kovy ever again? Young stars are getting locked up long term, we don't have enough to trade for one and we will likely never be bad enough with Schneider to have that super high pick to get a guaranteed superstar. A few days later we are sitting with Taylor ****ing Hall

I really just have the feeling that this Taylor Hall trade will be one that you talk about changing the shape of this franchise in the future. Taylor Hall is that dynamic offensive force that we needed. The more I think about him being here next season, the more exhilarated I get. Just so much hope and joy. Words really can't convey it.

 

[The Wumpus]

I would love to see a compilation of all the proposed/rejected Larsson trades from the main board over the years.

 

[Devilsgrl35]

Hearing Lovejoy talk about Hall on the NHL network earlier makes me even more excited he's on our team. I cannot wait to see him in action this fall!

 

[PercivalGraves]

Hall seems Parise like when I see his highlights

I thought the same thing .

 

[Emperoreddy]

Hearing Lovejoy talk about Hall on the NHL network earlier makes me even more excited he's on our team. I cannot wait to see him in action this fall!

I think it has boosted confidence in a lot of our guys. DSP sounded really positive about the direction of the team right now.

 

[NJDevils17]

I think it has boosted confidence in a lot of our guys. DSP sounded really positive about the direction of the team right now.

I think it also increases the lure in free agency. Saying "Hey we have Taylor Hall." is a confidence boost in anyone coming. I don't think anyone can look at New Jersey and be like man they're such an idling team. Our core is under 26 and on great deals. We've had great drafts recently and have a lot of young guys ready to play in the league. They can also point to Shero and be like "here's a guy willing to do what it takes to improve the team." in reference to the Larsson deal.

This trade has so many affects besides adding a star player.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I thought the same thing .

He's not as strong defensively as Zach was. He was a great two way player. But Hall is much more physically gifted and goes hard to the net like Zach did.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I think it also increases the lure in free agency. Saying "Hey we have Taylor Hall." is a confidence boost in anyone coming. I don't think anyone can look at New Jersey and be like man they're such an idling team. Our core is under 26 and on great deals. We've had great drafts recently and have a lot of young guys ready to play in the league. They can also point to Shero and be like "here's a guy willing to do what it takes to improve the team." in reference to the Larsson deal.

This trade has so many affects besides adding a star player.

I think you're spot on with this as well.

 

[JimEIV]

Most of my enthusiasm about the future was centered around having a D with BOTH Larsson and Severson.

There are legitimate questions about both players' potential and now you see the flaws of one being trotted out and the flaws of the other smoothed over. People (sports fans) are so predictable at times.

You are 100% correct. And I have been somewhat hypocritical. I never wanted ANY of our defensemen traded. I always believed that the strength of the defense was the sum of its parts.

But in my defense a lot of things have changed.

Getting Hall is an obvious one.

The other was how we needed to use Larsson last season was very disappointing to me. Whether it was simply management decisions or the reality of the situation based on ability, inseparably tying Larsson to Greene made the overall defense worse and our offense worse.

We are 5 season removed from Larsson being drafted #4 overall and while there is no doubt Larsson is a solid defenseman, he simply hasn't lived up to expectations.

So really the question has changed. It used to be how good can a Larsson, Severson, Santini and Merrill unit be. Now it is where are we? Are we worse off or better off all things considered.

It's never a happy situation to lose a home grown player but are we better because of it? I think so.