By

1 Share Share Tweet Share Share Email

Taylor Hall has had a few months to adjust to having been trading by the Edmonton Oilers to the New Jersey Devils in what was one of the summer’s most talked about NHL swaps.

The 24-year-old winger has given refreshingly candid answers about the deal, and was no different during a lengthy 19-minute radio hit on Edmonton’s TSN 1260 Tuesday afternoon.

Hall has another four seasons to go on his current seven-year, $42 million contract, but was asked if he’d consider returning to Edmonton at that point as an unrestricted free agent.

“No, I don’t think I would,” said Hall. He added, “Right now, my focus is Jersey and playing my four years there. But I don’t think I would come back.”

Host Jason Gregor made a light-hearted comparison to how ‘Once you break up, rarely does it work out when you try the second time.’

“Yeah, I think that’s a good analogy,” agreed Hall. “I think that I gave it a good run and I don’t have any regrets about what happened. I certainly think that I’m focused on what I can do in Jersey. It’s so far away, but I don’t think – maybe something comes up and I’ll change my mind, but I don’t think that – I did my time there, and it’s time to move on.”

Earlier in the interview, incidentally, Hall made a salient point while answering a question about moving on from the trade.

“I watched all my interviews during the BioSteel camp, and everyone asks me about Edmonton,” he pointed out. “No one really asks me about New Jersey. So it seems like I’m complaining the whole time and I’m crying myself to sleep every night – which I’m not, of course.

“I’m looking forward to what I can do in Jersey, for sure.”

Source: TSN 1260/ Transcript: Nichols

Hall: ‘I don’t think I would’ return to Oilers as a free agent