Again, I think the general consensus is that Hall isn't seen as an upgrade on Gaudreau. However, if we don't sign Hall and Gaudreau gets to free agency and walks leaving us with nothing...
All these hypotheticals are operating under the assumption that Treliving knows what Gaudreau wants to do. If Gaudreau and his agent even hint at wanting to test free agency, the team needs to move him for a good return. It's pure asset management at some point. Gaudreau has 2 years remaining of a very friendly caphit, and 1 year remaining without a NTC, so he should hold significant value around the league (especially to a team that thinks they can convince him to extend). Meanwhile it just so happens the top UFA is another #1LW who also happens to be from Calgary.
Signing Hall while moving Gaudreau for 1 or 2 really good pieces is obviously better than losing Gaudreau for nothing in 2 years.
Though I agree that most of the proposed returns are underwhelming. The team shouldn't be looking at a trade featuring 3-5 pieces coming back IMO. But we'll see.
|