The transaction sending Taylor Hall to the Carolina Hurricanes represents a failure for the Chicago Blackhawks.
By starting to sell its best players, the Illinois team made it clear that it would side with the sellers this spring. In last place in the Central section since the start of the season, the Hawks players were not surprised, but Friday evening caused a certain shock.
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“We only have ourselves to blame for finding ourselves in this situation where we no longer have a choice to start thinking about the future and selling,” admitted Nick Foligno after the 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Friday night. It’s not a good feeling for anyone here. When you experience this a few times in your career, you lose good friends.”
-The Blackhawks captain was very close to Hall. The two veterans rubbed shoulders with the Boston Bruins before being part of the same transaction to Chicago in June 2023.
“He’s one of my closest friends in the league,” Foligno said. It’s always difficult when there are families and friendships involved. But this is the industry and we understand its reality. When you are not where you would have liked to be and the contracts of certain players expire, that is one of the difficult decisions that the staff must make.
Chicago actually saved some money by getting rid of the final year of Hall’s four-year contract at an average annual salary of $6MM. However, they facilitated the monster transaction involving Mikko Rantanen and the Colorado Avalanche by recovering half of the Finn’s $9.25 million salary.
The Blackhawks also acquired a third-round pick in the next draft with this operation.
