If Carolina Hurricanes fans haven’t heard yet, the afternoon of Wednesday, June 29, saw some of the biggest and surprising trades in the past decade. One of the trades that went down was a very lopsided deal for superstar, Taylor Hall, which saw him traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the New Jersey Devils in a player-for-player deal for defenseman Adam Larsson.
You may be asking yourself, “What?!” and that was the same reaction the whole hockey world had that afternoon, knowing that the Oilers could have gotten so much more for their former number 1 draft pick. The Oilers do need d-men and they need contracts like Larsson’s, which raises each of the next 4-years to keep them above the cap floor.
If Oiler’s GM Peter Chiarelli was willing to take so little for Hall, there is a chance that Ron Francis could have offered a better player or package to receive Hall in a trade. Actually, Francis could have definitely offered something better than Larsson.
Hall for Faulk
The first thought that comes to mind would be Justin Faulk for Hall straight up. That would be the most risky move for the Hurricanes, but if Chiarelli was in the right mindset when he gave up Hall, this would be the most realistic one-for-one deal. Two stars going back and forth, but it almost seems that the Oilers would come out the winners in that deal as they are stacked with young forwards and thin on D.
It would also be a win for the Oilers because the Hurricanes defense core would drop dramatically and they already have a plethora of LW, but they would sure be able to fit Hall in there.
Faulk is the best player on the Hurricanes and other than Connor McDavid, Hall may be the best player that was on the Oilers.
Hall for Hanifin or Slavin
If the ‘Canes contacted Chiarelli about Hall when he was in the mindset to just receive 23-year old Larsson, Francis could have offered Jaccob Slavin or Noah Hanifin in a one-for-one deal. Once again this would be risky for the Hurricanes as their future defense will be built around one or both of these guys. For Hall though, it could very much be worth it.
Hall for Hainsey and rights to Murphy
One last deal that the Hurricanes could have offered to Chiarelli if he was feeling extra-lenient giving away Hall, would be a Ron Hainsey and the rights to Ryan Murphy package. Murphy has potential be a star soon and 34-year old Hainsey has been a solid defenseman throughout his career and topped Larsson in every statistical category except for +/-.
The problem with this crazy package for Hall, is that compared to Larsson, Hainsey is 11 years older than Larsson and has less years left on his contract than Larsson. This trade for Hall would probably never happen, but nobody thought the Larsson-Hall trade would ever happen. It was really mind-blowing as would be a Hainsey and Murphy’s right contract.
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Out of the three mentioned proposal’s the most likely one Chiarelli would agree to would be a Hall for Hanifin or Slavin. Both of the players are younger than Hall and Larsson and have a better upside than Larsson. It would end up being a fair trade for both teams, and even though the trade would have the potential to ruin the young D-core for the Hurricanes, you can’t pass up an elite scorer like Hall. It would certainly work out for Chiarelli, who was looking for a solid defenseman that could help his team for many years to come. And let’s face it, no team in the league would pass up on Hall for a semi-low price.