NHL Free Agents 2020: Rumors, Landing Spots for Taylor Hall, Alex Pietrangelo

The NHL free-agency period is in full swing, but a few big names remain on the market heading into Sunday.

Left wing Taylor Hall and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo are arguably the biggest two, and some rumors dropped on both of them Saturday.

You can see the latest on them below as well as some notes on potential landing spots.

Taylor Hall

Boston Bruins/NHL Insider Joe Haggerty reported Saturday that the B's are in on free-agent left wing Taylor Hall, who Emily Sadler of Sportsnet ranked as the No. 2 free agent in the 2020 class.

However, Haggerty believes that Boston is best using its resources elsewhere:

At least 25 teams have inquired about the 28-year-old's services, per Sportsnet and NHL Network's Elliotte Friedman:

Hall, who the Edmonton Oilers selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, has scored 218 goals and dished 345 assists during his 10-year career with the Oilers, New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes.

The rebuilding Devils dealt Hall to Arizona last December for a 2020 first-round draft pick and a 2021 third-round draft selection.

Hall posted career highs with 39 goals and 54 assists with the 2017-18 Devils, but he played just 33 games in 2018-19 after his season ended prematurely because of arthroscopic knee surgery.

The ex-Oiler was on fire in 2018-29, posting 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points, or over one point per game. When he came back in 2019-20, Hall clearly was not the same skater as his numbers dipped to 16 goals and 36 assists this past season.

However, a full offseason to recover, rehab and rest up for 2020-21 could very well bring him back into form, and the guess here is the Columbus Blue Jackets make the move.

NHL Network insider Dave Reid (h/t Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media) made the case for the Jackets while also acknowledging that Hall's old stomping grounds in Edmonton could be a fit:

"[Edmonton] would have been a perfect fit [for Hall] because you've already got your two big guys down the middle, Connor McDavid and [and 2020 Hart winner] Leon Draisaitl. More and more, it seems Columbus could be that team."

"They made room for something," Reid added when referencing the team's recent cap-creating transactions with a pair of recent trades and a buyout of forward Alexander Wennberg.

"They need scoring up front. They need a power-play guy. That looks like a long-term fit [for Hall]. Columbus opened up space to make a big splash and we haven't seen it."

Preventing goals isn't a problem for the Blue Jackets, who allowed the third-fewest in the league last year. Scoring them is, however, as the team finished 28th out of 31 NHL teams.

The Blue Jackets still made the playoffs anyway but need more scoring punch to get over the Eastern Conference playoff hump and into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history. Hall could be part of the solution to that problem.

Alex Pietrangelo

Free-agent defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, most recently of the St. Louis Blues, is considering his options, per remarks made by TSN Radio First Up show host and 14-year NHL player Carlo Colaiacovo:

ESPN's Pierre LeBrun confirmed that sentiment:

LeBrun also mentioned Saturday that Pietrangelo confirmed that he had set up a meeting with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Pietrangelo, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft, debuted for the Blues in 2008. He's played for the team ever since and was an integral part of the franchise's first Stanley Cup win in 2019.

The three-time All-Star has become more of an offensive force over the last four seasons with 58 goals and 137 assists for 195 points in 299 games. He posted a career high of 16 goals last season despite the NHL being forced to shorten the 82-game regular season because of the COVID-19 pandemic (Pietrangelo played 70 games).

Pietrangelo notably dominated during the Blues' 2019 Stanley Cup run with a league-high 16 postseason assists in 26 games. He notably assisted on Ryan O'Reilly's goal to kick off Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on the road against the Boston Bruins before putting one home itself to give St. Louis a 2-0 first-period edge en route to a 4-1 win.

More signs appear to be pointing toward Pietrangelo's exit, however. As Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic noted, the Blues inked ex-Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug to a seven-year, $45.5 million deal, and that seemingly blocks any chance of Pietrangelo returning to the only NHL home he has known.

"We had some really good conversations into last evening, and we just couldn't get anything done," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said regarding negotiations with Pietrangelo.

"So he was going to hit the market, and I said, 'Keep us in the loop,' and I still hope he does keep us in the loop."

Armstrong didn't completely shut the door on Armstrong, noting that he would "never say never on something like that" but that the likelihood isn’t great." He also said that he would try to "put pen to paper" and get something done if Pietrangelo wanted to return.

As it stands, though, Pietrangelo could easily get more money elsewhere from a team less cap-strapped than the Blues after giving Krug a monster deal.

Vegas makes a ton of sense: Pietrangelo is used to playing on playoff contenders, and Vegas just made the Western Conference Final this season and the Stanley Cup Final three years ago. They could also use some help on the blue line after finishing a mediocre 13th in goals allowed per game in the league.

We'll likely soon find out where Pietrangelo lands, but seeing him in a Golden Knights uniform next year would not be a surprise whatsoever.