On Thursday evening, the Edmonton Oilers play the New Jersey Devils.
The most notable trade between the two teams came nearly nine years ago, as the Oilers traded Taylor Hall to the Devils for Adam Larsson in a one-for-one trade.
At the time, this didn’t look like a good trade, and even still, the Oilers probably could’ve gotten more out of the deal. However, it aged pretty well given how both players’ careers have progressed. Let’s take a look at the trade in the latest Throwback Thursday.

Pre-trade context

Taylor Hall was the first of three consecutive first-round picks for the Oilers. Often injured, his best season with the team came in 2013-14 when he scored 27 goals and 80 points but hovered around 50 points while missing parts of the season.
The season before the trade, Hall scored 26 goals and 65 points in a full 82-game season, the first time in his career he remained healthy. However, with the Oilers selecting Connor McDavid in the 2015 draft, Oilers’ general manager thought it was time to move on from Hall.
Take a guess what the Oilers’ biggest area of need was? A right-shot defenceman. The Oilers had a whole bunch of left-shot defenceman, namely Andrej Sekera (who played on his off-hand), Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, and Brandon Davidson. On the right side, they had Eric Gryba and Mark Fayne under contract for 2016-17 and beyond.
Fayne didn’t last much longer, playing just four games in the National Hockey League in 2016-17 before finishing his career in the American Hockey League. Gryba remained with the Oilers for 2016-17 and 2017-18, but only played 61 games in the two seasons combined.
The trade was absolutely lacking as the Oilers should’ve been able to get a first-round pick or a prospect, but Edmonton desperately needed a right-shot defenceman, hence why they pulled the trigger on this trade.

Adam Larsson’s tenure as an Oiler

Selected fourth overall in the 2011 draft, Larsson’s career-best season came in 2014-15 with the Devils when he scored three goals and 24 points. In 2016-17, he scored four goals and 19 points, along with two goals and six points in 13 post-season games. He followed that up with four goals and 13 points in 2017-18, three goals and 20 points in 82 games, and one goal and six points in 49 games in 2019-20.
Larsson’s last season came in the pandemic year, scoring four goals and 10 points in 56 games. He also played four post-season games against the Winnipeg Jets as the Oilers were swept. In the off-season, Larsson signed with the Seattle Kraken and has gone on to have a solid career, scoring back-to-back eight-goal seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Since his departure, the Oilers have lacked a second-pair right-shot defenceman to use in a shutdown role. They tried to fill it with Cody Ceci which didn’t really work. Lately, they acquired left-shot defenceman Jake Walman to fill this role with Darnell Nurse.
Mar 6, 2020; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Arizona Coyotes left wing Taylor Hall (91) against the Calgary Flames during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Taylor Hall’s career after the Oilers

In his first season after the trade, Hall scored 20 goals and 53 points in 72 games as the Devils floundered and finished with the first overall selection in 2017. Some things never change.
The reason why this trade is considered bad is because Hall had a career year in 2017-18, scoring 39 goals and 93 points in 76 games. In the end, he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, with the Devils making the post-season, which was a big reason why he won the award.
However, Hall’s career as an elite winger fizzled out after that season. In 2018-19, Hall scored 11 goals and 37 points in 33 games but underwent surgery on his knee that ended his season. 
Through 30 games with the Devils in 2019-20, Hall scored six goals and 25 points in 30 games but was traded to the Arizona Coyotes before the 2020 trade deadline. He finished his season with 10 goals and 27 points in 35 games with the Coyotes. In the post-season, Hall scored two goals and six points in nine games.
Before the 2020-21 season, Hall signed a deal with the Buffalo Sabres, scoring two goals and 19 points in 37 games. However, he was traded before the trade deadline again, this time to the Boston Bruins. He finished the season with eight goals and 14 points in 16 games, along with three goals and five points in 11 post-season games.
In Hall’s journeyman era, his best season came with the Bruins in 2021-2022 when he scored 20 goals and 61 points in 81 games. His final seasons with the Bruins in 2022-23 saw him score 16 goals and 36 points in 51 games, along with five goals and eight points in seven post-season games.
Before the 2023-24 season, Hall signed with the Chicago Blackhawks where he scored two goals and four points in 10 games before a knee injury ended his season. In 46 games with the Blackhawks, Hall scored nine goals and 24 points in 46 games but was shockingly traded before the trade deadline to the Carolina Hurricanes.

What to make of this trade?

Once you look past the fact that Hall won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2017-18, you can get a clearer look at the trade. The Oilers desperately needed a shutdown defenceman for the second pairing and Larsson was the perfect player for the role. Moreover, moving Hall’s contract helped the Oilers sign Milan Lucic, who had a good season and a half with the Oilers before his play fell off a cliff.
Although Hall never had a season like he did in 2017-18, he remains a useful middle-six forward for teams wanting to contend for the Stanley Cup.
All in all, the Oilers could’ve gotten a bit more value in the trade but it wasn’t even close to Chiarelli’s worst trade at the helm of the Oilers.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.