Changes in Boston! Bruins traded former #1 overall pick to Chicago for too high a salary

Quite an expected affair – even this is how one could interpret the trade that Boston made in the last few hours. The Bruins have traded former number one draft pick Taylor Hall to Chicago, and another forward Nick Foligno will probably leave the organization. Who went the other way?

Salary cap issues – that’s the issue that is forcing NHL clubs to make trades they probably wouldn’t normally make. And that’s exactly the case with Taylor Hall, who the Bruins traded to Chicago.

The biggest, or really the only, issue was the size of his salary. According to respected overseas journalist Frank Seravalli, Hall was making six million dollars, and that is the amount the Bruins needed to get rid of.

In fact, the upcoming season will see the anchoring of the giant contract of David Pastrnak, who according to the CapFriendly website, will receive $11 million and $250,000 annually.

In addition, key forwards like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tyler Bertuzzi and another Czech Tomas Nosek will become unrestricted free agents (UFA). In addition, Boston must sign goaltender Jeremy Swayman to a new contract.

In addition to Hall, however, Chicago, in a rebuild, also acquired the rights to protected free agent (RFA) Nick Foligno. The same then goes the other way. Boston received the rights to Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula.

“It’s hard to watch, he’s really a close friend of mine. Like Foligno, he was my neighbor. We’re in this business and we’re all aware of it, so we know it happens. It’s the bad part of hockey, but they’ll be my friends forever. And I wish them the best, ” David Pastrnak said about the departure of both players in an interview with the NHL’s official website.

Unfulfilled potential…

Hall was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and Edmonton naturally reached for him in the first round. But the potential of a future big star was never fulfilled by the thirty-one-year-old left winger.

He played six seasons in the Oilers organization, then spent four years in New Jersey. And it was in a Devils jersey that he recorded his best year of his NHL career. In the 2017-18 season, he recorded 93 points for 39 goals and 54 assists.

Notably, he won the Hart Trophy after that lifetime season. Subsequently, however, and due to injuries that complicated the further course of his career, his performance dropped significantly. He was a disappointment in Arizona and Buffalo and did not confirm his role as a big star in Boston.

Sources: NHL, CapFriendly, Elite Prospects, Twitter – Frank Seravalli