At first, I was positive Hall went there to get the highest salary possible for the year and to increase his stats for the season, then pivoting and seeing what contenders there were out there that could trade for him at the deadline, so it gives him a trial-run on his new team to see how it goes before signing long-term. Makes sense to me.
However, maybe he just wants to really play with Eichel and thinks that their games might mesh well, and that Buffalo is a fairly young team but on the rise? Might have bought their pitch for the future. Having Eichel to play with for years might be very attractive for Hall. Iginla chose Pittsburgh not only because they were running hot and seen as contenders, but he specifically mentioned that having a chance to play alongside a centre like Crosby was very enticing to him, as was the possibility of playing alongside Malkin.
Hall played with McDavid already, right? Didn't they do poorly together, and Hall got moved to a different line with RNH? I kind of remember that, but it has been so long ago now with McDavid in Edmonton, and Edmonton always finishing terribly in the standings, that it all just seems like an indistinguishable blur to me now. Did Hall play with McDavid during watergate? Or was that still "Hall's team" then? Ah, forget it, nevermind... Oilers are worse than my memory or my level of care.
I just remember Hall + McDavid = no good, so I would be surprised he would welcome a return there.
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