Rumor: Taylor Hall will make a trade easy for the Buffalo Sabres.

Hall appears to want out.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Rumor: Taylor Hall will make a trade easy for the Buffalo Sabres.
Rob Carr/Getty

The Buffalo Sabres are an absolute disaster right now and with the team earning it's 16th consecutive loss this week it seems like their players are ready to get out of town sooner rather than later.

On Friday the Buffalo Sabres pulled off a trade with the Montreal Canadiens that will see veteran forward Eric Staal joining the Habs, an indication in and of itself of just how bad things are in Buffalo. Staal was afforded trade protection on his current deal and Montreal was one of the 10 team's on his no-trade list, but in spite of that he opted to waive his protection in order to escape the hellscape that playing on this Sabres roster has been.

It would appear that this is a common theme on the Sabres locker room these days as on Friday night, after yet another loss, veteran forward Taylor Hall was asked about the possibility of being traded himself, with Hall indicating that he would be happy to move on. Hall, who also has trade protection on his current deal, was asked if he would be willing to entertain waiving his trade protection in order to facilitate a trade for Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams, and his answer was very blunt by the standards of the National Hockey League.

"Yeah, for sure," said Hall with absolutely no hesitation.

I would suspect that Hall would accept a trade to just about any team at this point when you consider just how bad things have been for him this season in Buffalo, but it sounds like the Sabres themselves may prove to be the biggest impediment to this trade becoming a reality. NHL insider Pierre LeBrun has reported what is believed to be the asking price for Taylor Hall, and by the sound of things the Sabres are aiming very high indeed in spite of Hall having a pretty poor season overall. LeBrun reports that the "initial asking price for Taylor Hall involves a first-round pick" however he himself acknowledged that it will be a tough sell in the current trade climate of the NHL.

I suspect the Sabres would have to retain half of his salary and perhaps even take on a bad contract in return in order to fetch that kind of price for Hall, who has just 2 goals and 15 assist for 17 points in 32 games this season and who boasts a plus minus rating of -19 on top of that.

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