All Hell Broke Loose As P.K. Subban And Taylor Hall Were Traded In One Of The Craziest Days In NHL History

Wednesday afternoon was an absolutely wild one for the hockey world, as some of the league’s elite names were involved in some major deals just prior to the opening of free agency later this week.

First, after years of “will they or won’t they,” the Oilers finally traded Taylor Hall. It was not worth the wait for Edmonton fans.

The 24-year-old left winger and former top overall pick was dealt to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenseman Adam Larsson and … nothing else. Seriously, that’s it. A one-for-one deal.

Sure, the Oilers have a plethora of young offensive talent — that tends to happen when you win the draft lottery every year and keep picking forwards — and desperately need defense.

But, with that being said, this trade is absolutely horrendous. As a Bruins fan, I know a bad trade when I see one. (On that note, it’s worth recognizing that current Oilers and former Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has now traded both the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks from the 2010 draft, and gotten fleeced on both of them.)

Hall is one of the league’s best wingers on the left side, with 132 goals and 328 points in just 381 games played. Again, he’s still 24 years old. He’s an elite talent. Larsson is a fine 23-year-old blue-liner with what is likely a bright future ahead of him, but he’s not great. Not yet, anyway. He plays solid defense and has point totals of 18/6/3/24/18 in five NHL seasons.

When you trade elite talent away, you should be getting elite talent or a massive package of assets in return. The Oilers got neither.

Then, in a second major move a short time later, the Canadiens traded their franchise defenseman, P.K. Subban, to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. For those keeping track at home, that’s two atrocious one-for-one swaps in less than an hour that left hockey fans shaking their heads.

https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/748243295504052225

The 27-year-old Subban is entering his prime as one of the league’s top defensemen, as well as one of the league’s most marketable personalities. He was beloved among the Habs’ fanbase and was a major contributor to the Montreal community. The man even pledged $10 million to the local children’s hospital.

Weber, meanwhile, is declining and about to turn 31. While his cap hit ($7.85 million) is slightly lower than Subban’s ($9 million), he’s on a much more poisonous contract — one that owes him $56 million through the year 2026. Teams should gag while looking at that contract, not trade their best player to acquire it.

It’s a deal that makes little to no sense and I’m not going to waste my time and brain cells trying to explain it. Montreal is very dumb.

Then, just minutes after the Subban-Weber deal broke, Bob McKenzie reported that Steven Stamkos would be re-signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Stamkos, 26, is an elite offensive talent coming off an expiring contract and set to be the free agent prize of the summer. Toronto and Detroit were rumored to be among the top suitors waiting to make him a very, very rich man. Instead, he elected to be a little less rich to stay in Tampa, where the Bolts have put together a strong roster and some solid playoff runs in the past few years.

So, in summary …