Warning: This is NS (not suitable) for some Oilers fans.
Taylor Hall is a great player. Finished top 10 in NHL scoring twice as a member of some awful Oilers teams. Let’s get that out of the way because it simply cannot be debated.
At the time of the trade, I was livid as were 95% of Oiler fans. How could we trade this absolute stud for a stay at home defenceman? Is Peter Chiarelli for real? We wanted Karlsson for Hall. P.K. Subban. Ekman-Larsson. Even Shea Weber would’ve been more understandable for most fans.
Last week Georges Laraque made some comments on French radio. Yes, it’s hearsay, and he later retracted and apologized for the comments. The fact he blamed it on an agent makes one think the NHLPA got wind of it and instructed him to do so… But then he deleted his retraction. This could be because of possible legal issues which some have suggested (but personally I doubt as 100’s or 1000’s of screenshots have already been taken), or because there is some smoke above the fire.
There’s a ton of stories out there. Even if only half are true, it’s pretty clear he partook in the Edmonton nightlife. Heavily. I didn’t even go out much, but I have a couple I’ve personally witnessed. One I will take to the grave (other than two very trusted people who will as well) because it was so greasy… But there’s nothing wrong with this. He never hurt anybody in any way. He’s never been charged with a criminal offense.
As an NHL General Manager, you manage not only the players but the person. There are many other things going on in players lives that we don’t know about and have no right to know about. Sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing. This is only a small part of the case, though. Whether Laraque spilled the beans or not, he was pointing to a larger issue with the player. Perhaps his act was wearing thin with the prospect of McDavid going into his second year. Maybe other guys on the team thought it was a little too much partying? Who knows?
Ideal return for Hall is top pairing Dman who can play tough minutes against anyone, as opposed to 2nd pairing Off minded guy. Tough 2 find
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) June 28, 2016
In the end, though the simple fact was we needed a right-handed top pair defenceman very badly. The off-ice stuff might have made it easier to justify the supposed low return. Maybe other NHL GMs heard things from friends of friends of friends like we all have. Quite frankly it’s naive to think they didn’t. Even without the noise Hall wouldn’t fetch a Subban, Seth Jones, Karlsson, etc etc. That’s just dreaming.
So we ended up with Larsson. And how bad was it?
He stabilized our defence. He’s nearly +40 since joining the Oilers. He’s brought out the best in Klefbom and Nurse while being paired with them. Two guys who many questioned if they had puck moving potential. With Larsson, they have the freedom to do so. He’s been called “The Swedish Gator (Jason Smith)”. I’ve seen comments on twitter saying we haven’t had a defenceman play in his own end like that since Pronger.
Some will say “They traded Hall for a second pair D!” “Fire Chiarelli” etc.
But the reality is that Adam Larsson IS a top pair right defenceman capable of playing 20-25 minutes a game vs the other teams best players. (Sidenote: up until this season Sidney Crosby had never scored a POINT vs Adam Larsson. And they played in the same division for 4 years).
It was a hockey trade. And a good one for the Oilers.
The Dirtbag
