Top 3 potential destinations for Taylor Hall in the offseason.

The National Hockey League has just undergone one of the most unusual seasons in the league's history and as you would expect in such a strange scenario there are all kinds of questions regarding how things will end up shaking out in what is expected to be an extremely tumultuous offseason.

One of the biggest questions surrounds the future of former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, currently of the Arizona Coyotes. Hall has not had many chances to experience playoff success throughout his NHL career and there is a strong belief that he will look to find a place on a legitimate contender and may even choose to value that over the financial considerations he will have to weigh as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. I genuinely believe that Hall does want to win but I also know that the current salary cap situation caused by COVID-19 will also put the crunch on many teams that could potentially have been a contender. 

Taking all of those factors into consideration here is a look at 3 teams that I believe make the most sense as potential landing spots for Taylor Hall.

#1 The Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche I believe would provide the best of both worlds. The Avalanche have already demonstrated that they are a legitimate threat in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and they currently remain in contention despite some key injuries to players like defenseman Erik Johnson and goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The Avalanche only have $59 million committed to their cap for next season so they will be among the few tams that will be able to offer Hall market value despite the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Hall could land on the contender that he wants and that team may even be able to make him the best possible offer, the Avalanche for that reason are my top pick.

#2 The Montreal Canadiens.

This one is all about the money and it is perhaps due to my cynical nature that I have this one ranked at #2. According to Cap Friendly the Montreal Canadiens have just a little over $63 million committed to next season which leaves them a ton of cap space to make a big splash in free agency. There's no question that the Canadiens are in need of some offensive punch and with the emergence of centers Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi during their most recent playoff run I could see general manager Marc Bergevin very excited at the prospect of adding a big weapon on the wing. 

The Habs will also have Charles Hudon hitting free agency during the offseason as will forward Max Domi, a player I believe the team also views as primarily a winger, and it will be relatively easy for Bergevin to make room on the roster if he wishes to do so. 

#3 The Pittsburgh Penguins.

Unlike in the case of the Montreal Canadiens this one would be all about winning and winning in the immediate future. There is perhaps no general manager in the National Hockey League that has shown more of a willingness to make big moves than Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and that is a huge part of the reason I have the Penguins at #3. Rutherford has already made alterations to his roster with a big trade in which he acquired forward Kasperi Kapanen from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and I suspect he plans to go all in this season. The Penguins know that their window with superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will not remain open forever and I expect Rutherford will make a splash.

The Penguins have all but committed to trading one of their goaltenders so either Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry is likely coming off the books, although the goaltender that remains is no doubt in for a raise as well. You have some players that will be coming off the books as unrestricted free agents as well, players like Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz, which will leave the Penguins with just over $9 million in cap space to work with. Hall would likely have to take a pay cut to make this happen and might even have to do so on a short term deal, but he would the chance to play with two great centerman.

Honorable mention: The Edmonton Oilers.

I don't really believe this one could happen given the history between the player and the organization but outside of that I do think it would be a good fit for both sides. The Oilers could really use another offensive weapon to add alongside either Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid but it won't be easy for Oilers general manager Ken Holland who has just over $11 million in cap space available to him next season and has some contracts he will need to get to work on before he can have a clearer picture of his cap situation. 

Forward Andreas Athanasiou will be a restricted free agent as will defenseman Ethan Bear and I suspect that Holland will look to sign both players which will eat up a significant portion of that cap space. This would mean that Holland would either need to clear cap space off the roster or Hall would have to take a discount if he feels the Oilers can be a legitimate contender and again I have my doubts regarding how realistic the latter of those possibilities really is. The subtraction of James Neal's contract would be an obvious move but getting that contract off his books is much easier said than done.