The Sabres have agreed to trade Taylor Hall to the Bruins in a deal that also will see Curtis Lazar go to Boston, with Buffalo receiving Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Hall waived his no-movement clause to facilitate the deal, which is pending a trade call. The Sabres are retaining 50% of Hall's salary, the source said.
TSN first reported the full trade agreement Sunday night.
Hall earned 2018 league MVP honors while with the New Jersey Devils but has now been traded twice in two years.
After the Devils traded Hall to the Arizona Coyotes during the 2019-20 season, Hall signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Sabres in free agency this past offseason. The 29-year-old banked on himself to boost his value while playing on Jack Eichel's wing.
Instead, Buffalo's season has been a disaster. The Sabres endured an 18-game winless streak, the longest in the salary-cap era, and fired coach Ralph Krueger in March. Eichel has been injured, and Hall scored only two goals in 37 games.
Hall's 0.51 points per game is a career worst, and he carries a minus-21 rating, fourth worst in the NHL this season.
Hall and Buffalo had shown mutual interest in a new contract earlier this season, but the Sabres are moving on.
In his 11-year career, Hall has played in only 14 playoff games. He now joins a Boston team looking to squeeze at least one more Stanley Cup run out of its veteran core. After parting with captain Zdeno Chara and veteran defenseman Torey Krug in the offseason, the Bruins have been a work in progress in 2021.
Boston is currently clinging to the fourth playoff spot in the East Division. However, the Bruins have a young blue line, and rank fifth-worst in the league in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick.
Prior to the Hall deal, the Bruins acquired defenseman Mike Reilly from the Ottawa Senators for a third-round pick.
