I would've been fine with signing Hall as a UFA, but after reading this Sportsnet article, I would be 100% in for bringing him to the team, and I don't see him as a NJD in 2 years.
http://"http://www.sportsnet.ca/hock...vares/sn-amp/"
“You get older. You mature. My game is a lot more relaxed. I come into the pressure of games a bit more relaxed,” Hall explains. “That’s just part of growing up. Maybe part of the frustration I had my first few years in Edmonton, I don’t feel that anymore.”
"“It’s the [Devante] Smith-Pellys. It’s the Jay Beagles. It’s those guys that really make the difference as games go on, as series go on. Hopefully as our team grows, we can have those [type of] guys on our team. We can add to what we have on our first line,” Hall says.
New Jersey has done exactly not that.
Sitting out free agency, GM Ray Shero has $19.6 million in projected cap space, more than every team except Winnipeg (and the Jets will use its budget on locking up pricey RFAs Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey). New Jersey watched John Moore, Michael Grabner, Patrick Maroon and Brian Gibbons all walk.
“Those are big guys for us. Yeah, we’re gonna have to find a way to make up for that. Those are guys who played key roles on our team, whether they were trade deadline [pickups] or guys who came into camp and surprised and made a huge difference for us,” Hall says.
“I would love to see us add a couple more pieces, but at the end of the day, that’s not my job. My job is to come into camp as healthy as possible, as committed as possible.”
“You want the recognition. You want the pressure. You want the accolades. All that,” Hall says.
“But at the end of the day, it’s about helping your team and winning hockey games. I was able to do that more often than not last year, and that’s what made it so fun. I’m not after the points or anything like that.
“At the end of my career I want to be able to say I’m a Stanley Cup winner and I really had an impact on the teams I played on.”
