One key piece of information in regards to how the Taylor Hall trade went down was the Devils’ interest in the possibility of a hockey trade.



According to sources around the league, one of the reasons the Devils’ trade with Arizona dragged out for a few days is that a mystery team was having a rather interesting back-and-forth with New Jersey on a deal that was more about current players, instead of future assets.



Just how far those conversations went is hard to determine, but enough that New Jersey had to thoroughly examine it before eventually making the futures-based deal with the Coyotes.



The bottom line is Devils GM Ray Shero was open-minded about what he was looking for and was willing to consider different options before pulling the trigger.



As always, when you trade a player in his prime for futures, you rarely receive praise for it. Many felt Shero didn’t get enough in return for a player of Hall’s...