Boston Bruins trade Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to Chicago Blackhawks

The Boston Bruins have traded Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell, as confirmed by Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff & Bally Sports.

The decision for the Bruins to trade Hall was to create some much-needed salary cap room. Prior to the trade with Chicago, the Bruins had less than $5 million in salary cap room, according to CapFriendly. But with Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney including forward Nick Foligno's rights in the deal, the team has more than double that amount in available cap space.

Hall has two more years remaining on a contract that carries a $6-million cap hit. Foligno, who becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, was earning $3.8 million. On Monday, the team also traded pending UFA Shane Bowers, who was probably due a bump from the $985,000 he was paid last season, to the New Jersey Devils.

Now, it's a question of where the Bruins will spend the money?

Regula, 22, who is from West Bloomfield, Michigan, was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the third round (67th overall) in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound defenseman has played in 108 career games for the Rockford IceHogs, registering 12 goals and 39 assists for 51 points through three seasons. Regula also has 22 games of NHL experience, all with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Mitchell, 24, who is from St. Albert, Alberta, was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round (26th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The 5-foot-11, 173 pound defenseman has played in 67 games for the IceHogs, tallying 13 goals and 29 assists for 42 points through three seasons. Mitchell has also played in 82 career games in the NHL, scoring four goals and 12 assists for 16 points across three NHL seasons.