Dreger: "Sky is the limit" if Oilers shop Hall at June draft

Darren Dreger was on Montreal’s TSN 690 on Tuesday morning.

On if Taylor Hall is getting a reputation as an uncoachable kind of player:

“Well, that’s pretty harsh. I would say that there’s a developing reputation, yes. I jump-started the speculation again yesterday.

“When you analyze all the areas of need, which we just did, and your questions about the fabric of the culture of your room – well, it’s undeniable Taylor Hall is the primary piece of that. He doesn’t deserve all the blame. His talent on the ice is unquestionable. There isn’t a team in the National Hockey League that wouldn’t love to get their hands on Taylor Hall.

“So when you’re Edmonton – and maybe MacTavish will find out that it’s not the way some think it is. ‘Taylor Hall is absolutely a coachable player and he’s an untouchable and he can’t be moved.’ But what if he finds that, ‘Hmm, you know what? I don’t know that this guy is what we hoped that he would be. Maybe he’s a bit more selfish than what we thought he was.’

“All of the sudden you have to look at the landscape and recognize that if – and if is an enormous if – you put Taylor Hall in play, and this would be in the off-season. You’re not going to get a premium rate of return even at the trade deadline, I don’t think. You throw him into play on the draft floor in June, and the sky is the limit. So maybe you get two of the three pieces that you need. Maybe you get a real starting goaltender. Maybe you get a blue chip defenseman. Or you get a quality No. 2 centre. There’s lots of teams that will show considerable interest and will have the flexibility to do it in the offseason.

“But that’s why MacTavish is on the bench. To figure all of that out.”

Source: TSN 690/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

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Nichols on Hockey

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