Taylor Hall won’t be coming to the Avs

You can cancel that Hall-monitoring, Avs fans.

Taylor Hall, the biggest-name forward still on the open market in NHL free agency, will not become a member of the team, a source tells Colorado Hockey Now.

The math just doesn’t add up to add another expensive forward, not after the Avs picked up left wing Brandon Saad Saturday from the Chicago Blackhawks, in a trade that sent Nikita Zadorov to the Windy City.

The Avs currently have just under $10 million of cap space available, with a couple of restricted free agents left to sign (Ryan Graves and Tyson Jost). Hall, whose last contract carried a $6 million cap hit, likely wouldn’t want to take that much of a financial haircut to join the Avs – or any new team.

The Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins are the two most likely teams on Hall’s shortlist.

How much interest the Avs had in adding Hall is speculative at this point, but I do think there was interest. But the addition of Saad pretty much ended all that. Saad will carry a $5 million cap hit for next season with the Avs. If Hall ever was going to come to Colorado, it would have had to have been on a short-term deal – kind of the same thing the Avs now have with Saad.

Saad, 27, will be an unrestricted free agent after this coming season.

There were some out there in the Canadian hockey media world who thought Hall to the Avs would happen. Ultimately, it did not. Things change quickly in this game, and after Saturday’s move by Joe Sakic with Saad, the writing was on the Hall, er, wall, regarding a potential TH signing here.

I think the Avs will focus on getting another D-man with their remaining cap space. Probably a right-shot, veteran guy. Travis Hamonic, anyone?