The Bruins receive almost universal praise for their purchase of Taylor Hall.
However, the press around the Sabers after the shocking trade is … completely different.
If you missed it, Boston agreed late Sunday night to send Anders Bjork and a second round to Buffalo in exchange for forward Curtis Lazar, the Hall and the sixth. The Sabers will meet half of Hall’s salary cap as part of the deal, which was made hours before Monday 15:00 ET NHL deadline.
The last part is part of the reason why Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic shredded the Sabers in his analysis of the trade. Luszczyszyn gave Boston a glowing A-plus rating for the deal while giving Buffalo a hard F-minus.
Here is his excerpt about the Sabers:
This is the best Buffalo could do?
…
It’s just as embarrassing for the other fighting teams that could not beat this offer, but the fact that it happened a full 15 hours before the deadline is honestly pathetic for the Sabers. Sleep on it. Wait it out. There is no way that this small offer that is likely to amount to anything will not be there in the morning.
Movements like these are why Buffalo is in the basement every season. No matter who is in charge, they will find a way to solve it. This is a terrible return.
And here are some of his thoughts on the Browns:
The Bruins took advantage of an extraordinary buy-low opportunity, and they said very little goodbye to a player who at worst is a mid-six forward. Through GSVA, Hall is playing at a one-win pace this year, despite only scoring two goals – that’s his floor. He is expected to deliver another 1.4 wins per 82, a top-six wing. And it is with his most recent data that is confused by bad luck. His ceiling, once he remembers how to score, is still a wing in the top tier and he has shown enough to still be. If he can get out there with Boston, the deal could be a real steal.
As Luszczyszyn noted, there is no guarantee that Hall will provide the top-six score the Bruins need before the NHL playoffs. Statistically, the first overall pick in 2010 was his worst season to date.
But given the price, as well as the fact that Hall will be a free agent this free season, Don Sweeney and the Browns accepted very few risks with this deal. The potential – and somewhat realistic – upside is that Hall (29) is on the second line with David Krejci, can deliver a high score and maybe even sign again during the off-season.
Click on the link below for our in-depth analysis of the trade.
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