When Taylor Hall was a late scratch from the lineup for Friday’s home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, signs immediately started pointing towards a trade of the veteran forward.
Those signs were pointed towards Carolina, with Hall heading there as part of a massive trade that also involves Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen.
Here are the full terms of the trade, per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan:
The massive three way deal will involve sending Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall to Carolina, Martin Necas & Jack Drury to Colorado per sources.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) January 25, 2025
Chicago takes on 50% of Rantanen’s salary and gets its own third round pick back. @frank_seravalli on the trade first
The trade is official, by the way:
Trade alert 🚨
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 25, 2025
📝https://t.co/gBfZx18Tev pic.twitter.com/gO8wNtyAL5
That third-round pick was part of a trade from the 2024 NHL Draft, as reported by Scott Powers of The Athletic:
In the deal, Blackhawks are getting back their 2025 third-round pick, which they had originally traded to Carolina for a 2024 third-round pick.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 25, 2025
Carolina also received Nils Juntorp from Chicago in the trade, an unsigned player whom the Blackhawks drafted in the sixth round (188th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s been playing overseas in Sweden the last few seasons after skating 59 games with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints during the 2022-23 season.
Hall joined the Blackhawks in the summer of 2023 in a trade that brought fellow veteran Nick Foligno from Boston to Chicago in exchange for young defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Hall had two seasons remaining on the 4-year, $24 million ($6 million AAV) contract he signed with the Bruins and was limited to just 10 games in Chicago last season because of a season-ending injury.
The 2018 Hart Trophy winner has played in 46 games with the Blackhawks this season, tallying 24 points (9 G, 15 A) while averaging 14:59 of ice time. He’s currently slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As mentioned in the Kaplan tweet above and also referenced by Powers earlier in the night, Chicago is adding some salary onto its books to help facilitate the trade:
The Blackhawks are retaining half of Mikko Rantanen's cap hit, none on Taylor Hall.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 25, 2025
Taking on half of Rantanen’s $9.25 million salary while also trading away Hall only yields a third-round pick in return? Feels a little light, doesn’t it?