Taylor Hall can become an unrestricted free agent Oct. 9, and the Arizona Coyotes plan to spend the next two weeks looking at ways to re-sign the 28-year-old forward.
The NHL salary cap will stay at $81.5 million for at least next season after this season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"It'd have to be very creative to keep him [in Arizona]," Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said Wednesday. "That's something we're going to explore. We're never going to turn our eye to talent like that. He's a heck of a player, but we've got to explore. These are [things that are] going to happen between now and free agency. We're going to explore everything."
Hall scored 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 65 games with the Coyotes and New Jersey Devils this season, 27 (10 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games after he was traded to Arizona on Dec. 16, 2019. He was second on Arizona with six points (two goals, four assists) in nine postseason games.
The Coyotes, who qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012, defeated the Nashville Predators in four games in a best-of-5 series in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and lost to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in a best-of-7 series in the Western Conference First Round.
Hall said Aug. 21 his top priority is clear as he heads toward becoming an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 10-season NHL career.
"I think, honestly, it's probably all winning," he said.
Hall was limited to 33 games in 2018-19 because of a knee injury. He won the Hart Trophy voted as NHL most valuable player in 2017-18, when he scored 93 points (39 goals, 54 assists) in 76 games for the Devils.
Selected by the Edmonton Oilers with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Hall has 563 points (218 goals, 345 assists) in 627 games with the Oilers, Devils and Coyotes. He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 14 playoff games.
"Any player at this stage in their career that has had the career that I've had, 10 seasons, only make the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs twice, that's really what I'm after," Hall said. "So we'll see what happens there.
"I think the Coyotes have a bright future. They have some great guys, some good young players. When I get around to crossing that bridge and I kind of come to what I want to do, we'll see.
"But yeah, I'd say it's pretty much all winning. I don't think the money's going to be what it was maybe before COVID or before the season, but that's fine. I think we get paid a lot of money to play a game, and we'll see what happens."
John Chayka, who was responsible for bringing Hall to Arizona, quit as its GM on July 26. He was replaced by Steve Sullivan, who held the role until Armstrong was hired Sept. 17.
"It kind of clouds it a bit," Hall said before Armstrong was hired. "I think John leaving was unexpected for everyone. I had a good relationship with him. He's the one that traded for me and obviously had a lot of belief in me, and that was important.
"But we'll see. A change happens a lot in hockey, and you have to be ready for that stuff. We'll see what happens. We'll see how the conversations go with whoever's having them."
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