The Boston Bruins have made “significant progress” with pending unrestricted free agent Taylor Hall, general manager Don Sweeney told reporters Thursday.
Both Hall and the Bruins made it clear this offseason there's mutual interest in reaching a long-term agreement. Any deal is likely to get done soon because the roster freeze lifts at 1 p.m. ET, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman notes.
Friedman estimates Hall's new contract will be a four-year pact with an average annual value of $6 million.
The Bruins acquired Hall and Curtis Lazar from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round draft pick in April. Buffalo retained half of Hall's $8 million salary.
Hall notoriously struggled with the Sabres while producing two goals over 37 games. The 2018 Hart Trophy winner returned to form after arriving in Boston, registering 14 points over 16 regular-season contests before logging five points across 11 playoff games.
The 29-year-old has played for five teams since becoming the first overall pick in 2010.
With the 2021 Seattle Kraken expansion draft in the rearview mirror, we highlight the winners and losers from Wednesday's event.
Winners
Chris Driedger
Christopher Mast / National Hockey League / Getty
Two years ago, Driedger split his season between the ECHL and AHL. Now, he's locked into a three-year contract and gets to be the guy in net for an NHL team. Vitek Vanecek and Joey Daccord aren't major threats to the starting job.
Driedger could be poised for success thanks to the personnel around him. The Kraken's blue line projects to be the strength of the team and there's still room for more additions.
LD
RD
Mark Giordano
Adam Larsson
Vince Dunn
Jamie Oleksiak
Carson Soucy
Jeremy Lauzon
Haydn Fleury
Additionally, head coach Dave Hakstol is a defensive-minded bench boss who will try to put his netminder in a position to succeed - especially since the team will need to win low-scoring games due to a lack of firepower up front.
Driedger's NHL sample size is small, but in 41 games, he's posted a .926 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average. At 27 years old, he could conceivably cash in on another contract down the road if he performs well.
Every organization has to rebuild at some point, and it's ideal if the timing lines up with an expansion draft. These teams didn't lose anything of substance and weren't desperate to get a contract off the books.
Losers
Kraken
Alika Jenner / Getty Images Sport / Getty
General manager Ron Francis took an interesting approach to the expansion draft. He passed on several proven players in exchange for ones with minimal experience. This isn't to say the Kraken should've taken Carey Price or Jakub Voracek, but James van Riemsdyk, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Max Domi would've made sense.
Francis' strategy gives the Kraken ample cap room (around $30 million) but leaves them with several roster holes up front. It might be too early to judge Francis until we see how he spends his remaining cap space this offseason, but it's hard to feel overly optimistic right now.
He also didn't swing any major side deals - that we know of. Trades helped the Vegas Golden Knights find instant success in 2017-18. George McPhee fleeced teams in a few instances, reeling in multiple players at a time and stockpiling draft picks so that he had the ammunition to make big trades down the road.
While GMs around the league may have learned their lessons, it's quite possible that Francis' asking prices could've been too high. Francis' undoing during his stint as Carolina Hurricanes general manager was his overly cautious approach, and based on this draft, it appears he hasn't changed his management style.
The league, the fans, ESPN
Rick Madonik / Toronto Star / Getty
The NHL really fumbled this one.
The expansion draft was shaping up to be a compelling, must-watch event, but instead, all the drama was leaked on Twitter throughout Wednesday morning.
Of course, the reporters who broke the news were just doing their jobs and deserve no blame. But the league and the Kraken should've done a better job of keeping the selections under wraps. In hindsight, the 10-hour gap between Seattle's submission deadline and the official announcements was a horrible idea.
Fans obviously have a right to be upset, but nobody should be more livid than ESPN. The expansion draft was the network's first event since purchasing the primary package of the league's new U.S. TV rights deal, and the ratings were surely substantially lower than they would've been had the picks not been previously revealed.
Teams hoping to shed big contracts
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Numerous clubs cast some shiny bait out into the water, but the Kraken didn't bite.
The Philadelphia Flyers exposed both Van Riemsdyk and Voracek, likely expecting Seattle to take one and provide Philly with some cap space. The Kraken took the relatively unknown Carsen Twarynski instead.
It's no secret the St. Louis Blues are shopping Tarasenko. But the fact that the Kraken passed on him for free definitely diminishes his trade value, even if he's healthy after multiple shoulder surgeries. Seattle preferred to selected blue-liner Vince Dunn.
The Montreal Canadiens were probably quietly praying for the Kraken to take Price, even though he just led them to the Stanley Cup Final. Getting that contract (five years left at $10.5 million per season) off the books would've been a weight lifted off GM Marc Bergevin's giant shoulders. And if it wasn't Price, Bergevin was certainly hoping Seattle would take Jonathan Drouin, who missed the entire playoffs while on personal leave. The Kraken picked defense prospect Cale Fleury instead.
Edmonton Oilers
Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty
The Oilers' offseason isn't filling their fan base with confidence. The Duncan Keith trade was (rightly) heavily criticized, the decision to re-sign 38-year-old Mike Smith to a multi-year deal was questionable, and there's still a chance they pony up for Zach Hyman.
However, they're losers in this exercise because they let pending UFA defenseman Adam Larsson sign with the Kraken on a reported team-friendly four-year, $16-million contract. Edmonton apparently offered him the same contract, but it probably would've been a good idea to offer him more money or add another year.
Larsson, 28, has been very steady defensively over the past few years - something the Oilers have generally lacked on their back end. He'll be incredibly difficult to replace via free agency or trade this offseason.
Gourde was Seattle's selection from the Tampa Bay Lightning in Wednesday's expansion draft. He established himself as a key contributor in winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning and was among the more prominent names the Kraken selected.
The 29-year-old center had 36 points in 56 games this past season and performed a key checking role throughout the playoffs. Gourde played 310 games with the Lightning from 2015-21 before joining the NHL's 32nd franchise.
The Kraken will open their inaugural season Oct. 13. Gourde's recovery timeline projects that he'll be available in mid-November.
The signing indicates Oleksiak will be Seattle's selection from the Dallas Stars in the expansion draft. The Kraken had an exclusive window from July 18-21 to negotiate with all pending free agents that teams left exposed.
Oleksiak scored six goals and added eight assists in 56 games with the Stars last season. He averaged 20:29 of ice time. The 28-year-old led Dallas with 148 hits and ranked second with 88 blocked shots.
The Stars drafted Oleksiak with the 14th overall pick in 2011. He's played 369 career games and has totaled 72 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs granted Hyman permission to meet with other teams earlier this offseason to explore trading his rights. A sign-and-trade is possible until free agency opens July 28, so the Oilers could potentially add the winger on a maximum eight-year deal, notes Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
The Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks are among the other teams reportedly pursuing Hyman, who produced at a 63-point pace this past season as a staple in Toronto's top six.
Hyman is coming off a four-year contract that paid him $2.25 million per season; the 29-year-old is expected to land a significant raise.
Edmonton has $11 million in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly. The club is reportedly on the verge of re-signing goaltender Mike Smith to a two-year with an average annual value of around $2 million. The Oilers also lost defenseman Adam Larsson to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
