Taylor Hall to Stay With Coyotes?

Many insiders believed Taylor Hall’s stay in Arizona might likely be a short one. After being acquired from the New Jersey Devils, Hall joined the Arizona Coyotes and the team struggled with him on the team.

The first signs that Hall might actually stick around came this week as Coyotes’ head coach Rick Tocchet told ESPN On Ice the winger might be looking to settle in. Tocchet explained that Hall told him that he’d like to find he could call home for the long-term and wasn’t interested in a short-term deal just to maximize his value in free agency. Tocchet believes that team could be the Coyotes. In fact, he says the Coyotes are “a team he’s very interested in staying with.”

Tocchet did add that he’s not outright saying Hall will sign an extension with the team, only that he might be interested in doing so. Tocchet explained:

“You’re talking about a guy who, before this, was going to make a ton of money. With this whole pandemic, like he told me, he doesn’t want to go through another year trying to play on a one-year contract. He wants to get settled somewhere. So he’s got a lot of different options that weigh.”

Tocchet brings up a good point and one that Hall has already explained when talking to reporters. This is about the worst time in the NHL to be a free agent. With so many teams set to struggle based on an uncertain salary cap situation and with fewer teams prepared to pay big money for big-name free agents, Hall’s options will be limited. In other words, there are no fewer free agents, just fewer choices.

Part of where this new potential to sign with the Coyotes comes from is what Arizona Sports writer Matt Layman calls a strong relationship between the two sides. He notes that Hall believes he’s got it good with Coyotes management and the coaching staff and that’s probably worth something in terms of dollars spent. And for Hall, even if he does take a slight hit to sign something longer-term, those dollars are rumored to be around $9 million per season range. Not too shabby.

Related: Tyson Barrie Comments on His Plans After This Season