Trade Pitch Has Maple Leafs Acquiring Former MVP From Blackhawks

Getty Trade pitch has Maple Leafs acquiring Taylor Hall.

A trade pitch has the Toronto Maple Leafs bolstering their lineup by adding a former MVP in Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Toronto is in their window to win the Stanley Cup, and in the offseason, the Maple Leafs haven’t addressed their forward group. Toronto struggled to score goals last season in the playoffs, which is why one trade pitch has the Maple Leafs acquiring Hall.

The website PuckPedia has a new tool called PuckGM that lets users create their own trades, and one user proposed a deal that would see Hall get sent to Toronto.

Maple Leafs get:

• Taylor Hall ($3 million retained)

Blackhawks get:

• 2025 second-round pick (Florida’s)

The proposed deal is one-for-one as Toronto would get Hall with $3 million retained, to make him a $3 million player and help the Maple Leafs afford him. Chicago, meanwhile, would acquire a second-round pick as the Blackhawks are still rebuilding so adding another high pick will help out their rebuild.

Hall is entering the final year of his deal, so it does seem likely that he would be dealt by the trade deadline, especially if Chicago is not in a playoff spot as expected. By moving him before the deadline, the Blackhawks would get another high draft pick while Toronto would get a skilled forward to strengthen their forward group even more.

Hall skated in 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points in 10 games last season. The former first-overall pick won MVP in 2018.

Hall Dealt With Injuries Last season

Hall was limited to just 10 games last season due to a knee injury.

The former first-overall pick sustained an injury on Nov. 9, but did return for two more games before being shut down for the season and undergoing knee surgery.

“He’s very disappointed,” Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said. “(It) just came from an accumulation of a bunch of little injuries and the game and even in practice the other day, and it just became unstable that they have to fix that now…

“A guy just pulled him down. Just a nothing play and just the way he fell on it, it was one of the last straws,” Richardson added. “Then he tried to get through it and in practice he caught a rut and that finalized it.”

Chicago acquired Hall on June 26 along with Nick Foligno from the Boston Bruins for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula.

Hall has played for the Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Bruins, and Blackhawks in his career.

Maple Leafs GM Said Team Still Has Work To Do

In free agency, Toronto focused on defense and goaltending.

The Maple Leafs signed Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to bolster their defense and added goalie Anthony Stolarz to form a tandem with Joseph Woll.

However, Toronto didn’t sign a forward and instead lost Tyler Bertuzzi to Chicago. After the first wave of free agency, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said the team still had some work to do.

“What is it, July 1? We still have a lot of work to do yet,” Treliving said. “The work that went on between the end of the season and today, we executed on some of the things we wanted to work on. But I’m not looking at rosters today compared to what we ended the season with.”

The Maple Leafs still haven’t made a move to their forward group ahead of their season opener on Oct. 9 against the Montreal Canadiens.