The most enlightening part of Taylor Hall’s post-trade conference call with reporters on Monday was this quote: “I feel like some of the reporting regarding my contract situation has been a little bit off. I have been open to anything and I haven’t closed the book on signing with any team prior to July 1.”

Based on multiple reports, it had been widely assumed that Hall would explore the market once he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, rather than re-signing with a team before that date. The assumption was made based on the track record of Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, and the chance for Hall to truly gauge his worth.

Since Hall threw cold water on that notion, you’ve probably seen several reports over the past few days speculating on the possibility of him re-signing in Arizona, with Hall and president of hockey operations John Chayka rehashing similar quotes to the ones they provided in their respective conference calls. Hall is open to the idea. Chayka wants to sell Hall on Arizona and the Coyotes organization by having him experience both for an extended period of time. Chayka wants Hall to re-sign because this is where he wants to be, but both sides are content to let things take their course while they focus on ending the Coyotes’ seven-year playoff drought.

That’s all old news.

But what does Ferris think — you know, the guy who handles those negotiations for Hall, and advises his client? Well, we asked. In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Ferris offered a whole lot of insight.

“It’s never an open-and-shut case where you say, ‘It’s going to free agency. I don’t care what you offer.’ That’s just not true,” Ferris said by phone on Tuesday while I was in San Jose to cover Hall’s first game as Coyote. “Every situation is different. Every player is approached differently and every situation has pros and cons to doing it earlier or later. All of those (pros and cons) are presented to a player and we do extensive research and fact-finding and analytics and there’s a lot to it before we present an idea to a player so at least he knows what his rights are and what his options are.”

Ferris said he and Chayka are taking the same approach to the remainder of the regular season, and what the Coyotes hope will be a postseason run.

“John and I talked at length (Monday) night and it’s a fair assessment of the situation that they want to let him get in and let him get settled and see how it goes,” Ferris said. “Players have earned rights and they work hard to get to a certain point in their career and that’s probably one of the reasons (Devils GM) Ray (Shero) put him up for trade. He didn’t want to risk the possibility that he can’t sign him. He figured, ‘OK, well, my team’s going nowhere so I might as well do this trade. It would be a worse thing if the team didn’t make playoffs and they lost Hallsy in free agency.

“So now there’s a possibility for Arizona, and yes, it’s absolutely a possibility. It gives Arizona an opportunity that it probably would not have been afforded for him to consider in the future because you just don’t know where the mindset would be at the end of the year. Now you get a chance to have him in there, have him get an idea of what it’s like to be in Arizona, and I have the feeling with the way Hallsy approaches things that he will really like Arizona and the lifestyle there. He is going to see that, ‘This might be a place where I can play for a while.’”

There are multiple factors to consider when a player is deciding where to sign. The chance to win is first and foremost in most players’ minds. Money is obviously another major consideration. Aside from that, players like to play in good markets (some like attention; some prefer less), they like good facilities and they like to play with great players.

One factor that could also play a role is where they live. Arizona’s climate is darn-near perfect during the eight-plus months of the NHL regular season and postseason. It also has low taxes and a low cost of living, meaning players get more bang for their buck in salary and housing.

“It might be a small factor,” said former Coyote Ray Whitney, who played in eight NHL markets but settled in Arizona after he retired. “It’s not what’s selling it, especially for a guy that’s been around 10 years. The money is going to be there no matter where he is. I think it’s going to come down to opportunity to win, the depth of your team, and then you look at style of play, coaching staff and the facilities. Maybe if it comes down to a couple teams you think, ah, fuck, do I want sunshine?”

Hall was asked about the merits of living in such a climate at his introductory news conference on Wednesday (I was not there).

“Walking out of the hotel this morning… the climate outside was pretty nice,” he said. “It adds a pep to your step. After playing in Edmonton and Jersey, it’s a nice change. I’ll play hockey anywhere but as the season goes on, sometimes it can seem like Groundhog Day. When you’re walking outside and you’re able to get away from the rink and enjoy yourself and all that Arizona has to offer, I’m looking forward to that.”

While Chayka has said repeatedly that success will be the greatest factor in whether Hall re-signs, the Coyotes are taking a proactive approach to wooing him. The team shop was already selling No. 91 jerseys at the front of the store.

Photo by Craig Morgan

There are also digital billboards welcoming Hall to Arizona all over the Valley, including multiple locations on westbound Loop 101, State Route 143, the I-10, 7th Street near Chase Field and other major thoroughfares. A team spokesperson said the Coyotes have agreements with 50 different billboard locations in the Valley, although their ads rotate from location to location so all 50 may not be showing the ad at the same time.

Photo courtesy of Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes know that Hall could be a major marketing piece in their attempts to build a wider fan base and, yes, that new arena and practice facility.

“We want to build it and we realize we’ve got to earn that, but we certainly feel like we’re on the right track,” Chayka said at the news conference. “Not only for the NHL players but growing the sport of hockey in the state. I think that’s a huge responsibility of ours in a nontraditional market. We take a lot of pride in that.

“Bringing over players like Taylor and Phil (Kessel) and these guys that have a great resume and are great players and fun to watch; I think that’s a big part of it.”

Chayka felt the acquisition cost for Hall was reasonable, even if he is a rental, and that makes sense when you dive into the details. Nobody knows what Kevin Bahl’s, Nate Schnarr’s and Nick Merkley’s ceilings are, but none of the traded pieces was considered a top prospect in the organization. I reported two weeks ago that top prospects Barrett Hayton, Victor Söderström and Jan Jenik were untouchable, and Chayka also made it clear at that time that he had no desire to break up the current roster, but it was surprising to some analysts that the Coyotes did not have to part with a goaltending prospect Ivan Prosvetov or Adin Hill.

Shero may have been more interested in futures than he was in immediate help, but even if the Coyotes end up giving up two first-round picks with the re-signing of Hall, both of those picks are likely to be late first-round picks. Flip through the past several drafts and try to find players that late in the draft who even approach Hall’s ability. You’ll only find a handful — Brock Boeser, David Pastrnak and Sebastian Aho come to mind — who even merit consideration.

“We felt the price was right and there’s certainly conditions that are baked into that,” Chayka said. “It’s obviously not every year that a Hart Trophy-level player is moved.”

Ferris has represented other Coyotes so he has worked with Chayka before. He also has what he termed a 30-year-long relationship with Coyotes assistant GM and director of scouting Lindsay Hofford.

“He’s a really good guy and he’s very astute at identifying talent,” Ferris said. “That was a good get by Johnny.”

When asked what message he gave Hall for the remainder of the season, Ferris said he didn’t have to tell Hall much.

“Taylor’s experienced enough and he knows what he’s doing over these next (45) games,” Ferris said. “He’s got this insatiable appetite to win and I think his focus is there. Even while this trade was going on, he didn’t want to be bothered with it. Once it was close he wanted me to contact him at that point but he wanted to focus on the game. He doesn’t like the distraction so he wanted to just play.”

While Ferris thought Hall might be headed elsewhere this week, he sees genuine opportunity for him to stay put in Arizona.

“Other teams were salivating for him so Johnny did a really good job in locking this deal down because there were offers there that I thought he might have a hard time beating,” he said. “From here, it’s really up to a team. It’s not up to a player. It’s a team that says, ‘Hey, OK, I want to buy those rights from you and this is how I’m going to do it.’

“I think this is a good situation for Taylor. You’ve got a great coach there. Rick Tocchet is one of my favorites. I’m glad he got the opportunity to coach in Arizona because players over the years that I’ve had with him love him and really like to play for him. I really think he’s today’s kind of coach so, again, I think this is a good situation for Taylor.”

(Photo of Taylor Hall Dec. 19, 2019, on the Coyotes bench: Norm Hall / NHLI via Getty Images)