Taylor Hall will not re-sign with the Arizona Coyotes and will become an unrestricted free agent on Friday, Oct. 9.
The forward scored 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 65 games with the Coyotes and New Jersey Devils this season, 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games after he was traded to Arizona on Dec. 16, 2019. He scored six points (two goals, four assists) in nine postseason games.
"I had a conversation with his agent and I just basically said to him that we wish Taylor the best," Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said Wednesday. "I think it's a mutual parting between two parties. At this point in time [it] wouldn't be a good fit for the Coyotes in the direction that we're moving. And I think his agent was always aware of that. So I don't think there was any special message, other than that we like him, we think he's a good person. We thanked him for his time here, through his agent, and then we've kind of moved on."
Hall won the Hart Trophy voted as NHL MVP in 2017-18, when he scored NHL career highs in goals (39), assists (54) and points (93) for the Devils. The left wing, who will turn 29 on Nov. 14, reached double-digit power-play points in nine of his 10 NHL seasons. He has scored 563 points (218 goals, 345 assists) in 627 regular-season games with the Coyotes, Devils and Edmonton Oilers, who selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft.
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 will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NHL career. The NHL salary cap will remain $81.5 million for next season, which is targeted to begin Jan. 1, 2021.
"I think, honestly, it's probably all winning," he said Aug. 21. "Any player at this stage in their career that has had the career that I've had, 10 seasons, only make the playoffs twice, that's really what I'm after. 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."
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