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Report: The Capitals were in on Taylor Hall before he was traded to the Boston Bruins

By Ian Oland

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April 12, 2021 1:40 pm

Much of the talk heading into the trade deadline was that Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan was interested in upgrading his goaltending depth ahead of the postseason. But in the 24 hours ahead of the 3 PM buzzer, the Capitals have been linked with several intriguing forwards.

Sunday, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reported that the Capitals were among several teams trying to land Nick Foligno from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a first-round pick. Later that night, the Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that the Capitals also tried to acquire the biggest star of this year’s deadline, 2018 MVP Taylor Hall.

It’s unclear what the Capitals would have been willing to give up to make that trade happen, but we get some clues from the haul the Sabres eventually ended netting. It wasn’t much.

The Sabres received 24-year-old winger Anders Bjork and 2021 second-round pick from the Boston Bruins for Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar.

Bjork has only five points (2g, 3a) in 30 games this season.

Hall likely hamstrung the Sabres with the no-movement clause he had written into his one-year contract.

“The no-movement clause really helped me become a Bruin,” Hall said according to Mass Live. “Since I knew I would be traded for the last few weeks it was a team I really wanted to join and I wanted to be a part of.

“Boston was No. 1 on the list of teams I wanted to go to,” Hall said. “(Sabres GM) Kevyn Adams was fantastic in the way he treated me and the way he went about the situation knowing that I wanted to play for a chance to win the Stanely Cup. He worked it out for a team I really wanted to go to. I’ll always be thankful to him for that.”

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