By: Patrick Donnelly | Follow me on Twitter @PatDonn12
With the acquisition of defenseman Mike Reilly from the Ottawa Senators just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, Don Sweeney’s night was just getting started.
According to multiple reports, the Boston Bruins have acquired forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward Anders Bjork and a second round draft pick late Sunday night. Darren Dreger of TSN reported the total package.
UPDATE: The Bruins officially announced the trade on Monday morning, confirming the pick sent to Buffalo is a 2021 second-rounder.
The Sabres will also be retaining 50 percent of Hall’s salary, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. Currently, Hall is on a one-year deal worth an average annual value of $8-million, and he will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Hall’s current deal also carries a no-movement clause, which the 6-foot-1, 206-pound winger waived to agree to the trade to Boston.
Dreger had initially reported that Lazar was headed to Boston as part of a larger deal, before Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada reported Hall was on his way to the B’s. John Buccigross of ESPN first sent out a series of cryptic tweets insinuating the Bruins were in on Hall for a package of Bjork and a second rounder.
This season, Hall has two goals and 17 assists for 19 points in 37 games with the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Last season, the former first overall pick of the Edmonton Oilers (2010) put up 16 goals and 36 assists for 52 points in 65 contests between the Arizona Coyotes and the New Jersey Devils before adding another six points (2g, 4a) in nine playoff games with the ‘Yotes.
The Calgary native has only appeared in the playoffs one other time, potting two goals and four assists in five playoff games with the Devils in 2017-18. That year, Hall earned the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player, scoring 39 goals and adding 54 assists for 93 points.
In 664 career contests, Hall has 220-362-582 numbers between the Sabres, Coyotes, Devils and Oilers. He has cracked the 20-goal plateau six times, while reaching at least 30 goals once and scoring at a point per game pace or better four times.
This marks the third time Hall has been traded. First in the 2016 offseason when the Devils acquired Hall for defenseman Adam Larsson in an infamous one-for-one swap with Edmonton. Then, last season the Devils dealt the left-shot winger to Arizona in exchange for a package of prospects and draft picks.
As for Lazar, the 17th overall pick to the Ottawa Senators in 2013, he has 25-45-70 totals in 317 NHL contests between Buffalo, the Calgary Flames and Ottawa. This season, he has five goals and four assists for nine points in 33 games with the Sabres.
The 26-year-old is currently in the first year of a two-year deal worth an AAV of $800,000. He has missed the last five games with injury as well. So far on his career, Lazar has appeared in seven playoff games across his time in Ottawa and Calgary.
Bjork has two goals and three assists over 30 games with the Bruins this season, his fourth in Boston. On his career, the 24-year-old has 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 138 contests.
Boston originally drafted Bjork 146th overall in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot, 197-pound Notre Dame product has an assist in 10 playoff contests. Bjork is currently in the first season of a three-year deal worth an AAV of $1.6-million.
After trading for Reilly and now apparently Hall, the Bruins still have time to make more moves. The Trade Deadline is officially set for Monday, April 12, at 3 p.m. ET.
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