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TSN Senior Hockey Reporter

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With Arizona sitting outside of the playoff picture, it was a question worth asking: Would GM John Chayka consider flipping Taylor Hall at the Feb. 24 deadline if the season continued to spin sideways?

The answer is no, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.

LeBrun reported Tuesday that the Coyotes remain intent on trying to sign Hall to a long-term contract extension, even though Hall and agent Darren Ferris have remained steadfast in that they will not engage in negotiations during the season. Hall reportedly met with owner Alex Meruelo in Montreal on Sunday night and that plan remains unchanged.

The Coyotes acquired Hall on Dec. 16 from New Jersey in exchange for a top three-protected first-round pick, a conditional third-round pick, as well as prospects Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley and Nate Schnarr.

Hall has largely lived up to his end of the bargain with 20 points in 23 games. But the Coyotes have struggled to score, they’ve missed All-Star netminder Darcy Kuemper due to injury, and they’ve stumbled to a 9-11-3 mark since Hall arrived.

LeBrun reported Chayka is comfortable with the risk – of Hall potentially walking to free agency in the summer and the Coyotes missing the playoffs despite a significant outlay of assets to acquire him. The Coyotes remain right in the playoff mix, entering Tuesday night's action just outside of the final wild-card spot based on points percentage. They are also just five points away from first place in the Pacific Division.

Chayka admitted it was a “gamble” on the day he acquired Hall and that hasn’t changed. We’ll see if it pays off.

Here are 40 players potentially in play on TSN Hockey’s latest Trade Bait board, which always seeks to blend a player’s prominence with his likelihood of a trade:

 

Trade Bait - Feb. 11

 
Trend Player Pos Age GP G PTS Cap Hit Years
  1. Chris Kreider, NYR LW 28 53 20 38 $4.63M UFA
  2. Alec Martinez, LA LD 32 39 1 8 $4M 1
  3. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ott C 27 53 21 34 $3.1M UFA
  4. Sami Vatanen, NJ RD 28 47 5 23 $4.9M UFA
  5. Brenden Dillon, SJ LD 29 56 1 14 $3.27M UFA
Embedded Image 6. Ilya Kovalchuk, Mtl LW 36 33 9 21 $700K UFA
  7. Tyler Toffoli, LA RW 27 56 14 30 $4.6M UFA
Embedded Image 8. Anthony DeAngelo, NYR RD 24 54 13 42 $925K RFA
  9. Andreas Athanasiou, Det LW 25 40 7 21 $3M RFA
  10. Carolina's 1st Round Pick             2020
Embedded Image 11. Matt Dumba, Min RD 25 55 4 18 $6M 3
  12. Pavel Buchnevich, NYR RW 24 54 11 31 $3.25M 1
  13. Derek Grant, Ana C 29 44 13 18 $700K UFA
  14. Dylan DeMelo, Ott RD 26 45 0 10 $900K UFA
Embedded Image 15. Joe Thornton, SJ C 40 56 2 22 $2M UFA
  16. Mike Hoffman, Fla RW 30 55 21 45 $5.19M UFA
Embedded Image 17. Chris Tierney, Ott C 25 55 10 28 $2.94M RFA
  18. Shayne Gostisbehere, Phi LD 26 41 5 12 $4.5M 3
  19. Andreas Johnsson, Tor LW 25 41 8 21 $3.4M 3
  20. Kasperi Kapanen, Tor RW 23 55 10 31 $3.2M 2
  21. Barclay Goodrow, SJ C 26 56 8 23 $925K 1
  22. Ondrej Kase, Ana RW 24 49 7 23 $2.6M 1
Embedded Image 23. Conor Sheary, Buf LW 27 45 7 16 $3M UFA
  24. Patrick Marleau, SJ LW 40 52 10 20 $700K UFA
Embedded Image 25. Robert Bortuzzo, StL RD 30 32 1 4 $1.38M 2
  26. Ryan Donato, Min LW 23 45 10 17 $1.9M 1
  27. Ron Hainsey, Ott LD 38 48 1 11 $3.5M UFA
  28. Zach Bogosian, Buf RD 29 19 1 5 $5.14M UFA
  29. Craig Smith, Nsh RW 30 48 12 22 $4.5M UFA
  30. Valtteri Filppula, Det C 35 56 4 18 $3M 1
  31. Marco Scandella, Mtl LD 29 48 4 11 $4M UFA
  32. Mikael Granlund, Nsh LW 27 54 12 23 $5.75M UFA
  33. Sam Bennett, Cgy LW 23 40 5 9 $2.55M 1
  34. Wayne Simmonds, NJ RW 31 54 5 20 $5M UFA
Embedded Image 35. Kyle Turris, Nsh C 30 48 7 24 $6M 4
  36. Nate Thompson, Mtl C 35 58 3 13 $1M UFA
  37. Josh Manson, Ana RD 28 37 1 6 $4.1M 2
  38. Josh Anderson, Cbj RW 25 26 1 4 $1.85M RFA
  39. Jeff Petry, Mtl RD 32 58 8 35 $5.5M 1
  40. Jesse Puljujarvi, Edm RW 21 44 18 44 - RFA
 

*Stats from SM-Liiga

TRADED:

11. Jason Zucker (Min to Pit)

29. Kyle Clifford (LA to Tor)

36. Alex Galchenyuk (Pit to Min)