With Bedard now in his sophomore season following a Calder-Trophy-Winning rookie year, can he surpass the 80-point plateau? Taylor Hall [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEwNzk5MTg4NTQyMjM2NjQ5/usatsi_24613019_168400847_lowres.jpg] Taylor Hall The Chicago Blackhawks surprised the NHL world Saturday by making left winger Taylor Hall a healthy scratch for their game against Vancouver. The 33-year-old Hall, who later told media he didn’t expect the move [https://www.nhl.com/news/taylor-hall-surprised-but-on-same-page-with-blackhawks-after-healthy-scratch], has just two goals and six points in 17 games this season. As the Blackhawks’ highest-paid forward at $6 million per season, more is expected from the 2018 Hart Trophy winner, who is in the final season of his current contract. If the end is near for Hall in the Windy City, where could the Hawks move him in a trade [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/blackhawks-taylor-hall-quickly-becoming-trade-candidate]? Let’s look at four NHL teams who could or should be interested in landing Hall in a trade. In alphabetical order: BOSTON BRUINS The Bruins have been one of the NHL’s biggest letdowns this season, and their offense is currently the fifth-worst in the league at an average of 2.47 goals-for per game. Teams will sometimes acquire a talent who has played for them before, and Hall played two-and-a-half seasons with the Bruins from 2021 to 2023. While he had 36 points in 61 games in 2022-23, he posted a very respectable 20 goals and 61 points in 81 games in 2021-22. The B's presently have just $28,869 in cap space [https://puckpedia.com/team/boston-bruins], so Chicago would have to retain up to half of Hall’s salary and take on a contract in a trade to make it cap-compliant. But Boston has a third-round pick in 2025 and 2026 and a second-rounder in 2026 to choose from when making an offer to the Hawks. The Bruins clearly need a shot in the arm on offense, and Hall would effectively be a pure rental who could earn a longer-term spot in Boston’s lineup if he played well in a second stint with the Bruins. This seems like one of the better fits for Hall if he’s truly done in Chicago. NEW YORK ISLANDERS Like the Bruins, the Islanders are struggling on offense, with the NHL’s eighth-worst goals-for average of 2.61 per game. The Isles currently have $8.08 million in cap space, which is more than enough to cover all of Hall’s contract at the moment. But Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair aren't expected to be on long-term injured reserve for the rest of the season, as they both had four-to-six-week recovery times, meaning the Islanders would also need Chicago to retain salary. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello has all of his 2025 draft picks to play with and all of his 2026 picks except for his second-rounder to lure the Hawks into a deal for Hall. Even if Hall is past his prime, the Isles need all the help they can get to produce offense, and Hall wouldn’t cost them an arm and a leg to essentially audition for a spot in Long Island next year and beyond. Hall has played in the greater New York City area after playing for the New Jersey Devils for parts of four seasons, and the Islanders would give him every opportunity to get his game back to the state it was in a few years ago. The Isles are under intense pressure to turn their season around, and the same goes for Hall, making this trade a good fit for all sides. SEATTLE KRAKEN The Kraken are a mid-tier team in the NHL on offense, but they’ve already started making roster moves by re-acquiring winger Daniel Sprong from Vancouver for future considerations [https://thehockeynews.com/news/krakens-daniel-sprong-may-be-a-journeyman-but-thats-not-necessarily-a-bad-thing] last week. Seattle has $5.6 million in current cap space, which will change whenever Vince Dunn comes off LTIR. Chicago wouldn’t have to retain much of Hall’s salary right now if they can get back a decent prospect and/or a mid-range draft pick in return, but if Seattle wants to be cap-compliant when Dunn returns, retaining some salary could sweeten the return. Hall would be an expensive option to probably start on Seattle’s third line, but the cost in terms of assets wouldn’t be so high as to prevent a deal from happening. Hall’s experience would be very valuable to this still-evolving Kraken team, but he’s only under contract for this season – so if it doesn’t work out, it’s not going to harm Seattle’s prospects in the long haul. If it does work out, Hall can re-sign with the Kraken for cheaper and be a solid-enough secondary scoring option for them down the line. A Hall acquisition could be a low-risk, decent-reward deal for Seattle, and they could be motivated enough to make such a deal materialize. ST. LOUIS BLUES The Blues placed veteran right winger Kasperi Kapanen on waivers Monday [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/report-kapanen-placed-on-waivers-by-blues#:%7e:text=Kapanen%2C%20who%20the%20Blues%20claimed,and%20was%20a%20minus%2D6], opening up a roster spot for star center Robert Thomas, who will return from injury relatively soon. But given that St. Louis is currently tied with Boston for the fifth-worst goals-for average, a talent like Hall will likely be attractive to the Blues. He’d get another fresh start on a Central Division rival that's looking to be competitive now. The Blues have about $4.49 million in cap space right now, but that will change when Thomas returns. So there would have to be a good deal of Hall’s salary retained by the Blackhawks, and that would drive up the cost the Blues would have to pay for him. But it wouldn’t push the price so high that it prevents a deal from being done for Hall. And the Hawks aren’t likely to make the playoffs this year, so moving on from Hall makes sense. St. Louis has only its first, fifth and sixth-round draft picks in 2025, so Chicago may have little choice but to settle for one of the Blues’ picks the following year, when St. Louis has all its picks except for its second-rounder. The Blues want to make the playoffs now, and Hall could get them in the right direction on offense. It’s all about the assets Chicago is looking for, and we don’t believe Hawks GM Kyle Davidson would set the trade bar sky-high to part ways with Hall. It’s a deal that makes sense for both sides, which is why we can see a trade happening for Hall and the Blues. Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [https://info.thehockeynews.com/mail/microsites/951/1/gTeQVf?_gl=1*ustlbj*_ga*NjkyMzUxMy4xNjYzNjIwMzQ3*_ga_PK63FB1PME*MTcxMzUwOTExNi40NDguMS4xNzEzNTA5MjA5LjU5LjAuMA..]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum [https://thehockeynews.rtb.io/THNHOME/posts].
