Rick Tocchet said he's confident the Arizona Coyotes will be in the mix to sign Taylor Hall after this season.
"I'm not saying he is going to sign here, but I definitely think we're a team he's very interested in staying with," Tocchet told the ESPN On Ice podcast.
Hall has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games for the Coyotes this season. The 28-year-old forward was traded by the New Jersey Devils to the Coyotes on Dec. 16 and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, which was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. He has 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) between Arizona and New Jersey.
"You're talking about a guy who, before this, was going to make a ton of money," Tocchet said. "With this whole pandemic, like he told me, he doesn't want to go through another year trying to play on a one-year contract. He wants to get settled somewhere. So he's got a lot of different options that he's gotta weigh."
Hall said shortly after the season was paused that he is focused on getting back to playing and making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, not his next contract. The Coyotes (33-29-8) trail the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks by four points for the second wild card in the Western Conference. They were 3-5-0 in their final eight games before the pause and were scheduled to begin a five-game homestand against the Canucks.
"It is definitely a weird time to possibly be a free agent, but there's so much uncertainty throughout the League ... throughout the world, really," Hall told Sportsnet. "So I'm not as worried about free agency as I am about getting back to hockey and hoping that we can somehow get into the playoffs. I think everyone just wants some normalcy back in their lives."
Hall scored 44 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in the final 32 games in 2017-18 helping the Devils to their first postseason berth since 2012 and earning him the Hart Trophy voted as NHL MVP. The No. 1 pick at the 2011 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, he has 563 points (218 goals, 345 assists) in 627 games with the Oilers, Devils and Coyotes.
"He's an elite player," Arizona general manager John Chayka said. "He's a star player most nights, if not every night. He generates a lot for himself, his teammates. He's a guy that plays in the guts of the game. He's been a terrific addition for us, and like we talked about, we hope to have him long term as well."
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