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Taylor Hall, Travis Hamonic trade rumors revived except not really

Hearing there were some talks that never went anywhere, say some guys.

By Dominik
Still love that encounter.
Still love that encounter.
Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images

As the NHL draft and free agency near, teams are making trades and shaky rumors are gonna circulate and it's just that time of year.

So it goes that your coworker's deliveryman's mother-in-law will be attributed as saying "I heard they're gonna trade Travis Hamonic for Taylor Hall?"

It's a concept that will get your dog ears tuning in, because Hall is constantly in Oilers trade rumors and the Islanders need -- and want -- a top-line winger and last season during the Travis Hamonic Trade Request Dark Ages Edmonton was seen as one of his acceptable western Canada landing spots.

We even discussed Hall (and other forwards) here at the time because, though the Isles supposedly wanted a like-for-like deal, it was clear the two teams' needs actually match better in a defense-for-forward swap.

Anyway, it was reaching for concepts then and is moot now, after Hamonic rescinded his request. Of course the Isles ought to be interested in Hall, who of course the Oilers really ought not trade. But it's that time of year.

What Was Said

The origin of this latest iteration of this, ah, rumor came via Boston freelance writer Jimmy Murphy. (Why via Boston? Well that's a good question, so check the Do's and Don'ts of Trade Rumors Guide -- and oh, note the example there.) Murphy's very couched report, delivered via the rumor-per-minute mill known as Twitter:

I can't even...but now you know where this is coming from. They ran with the Hamonic-Hall angle at the Edmonton Journal's Cult of Hockey too, so that's why your fabled deliveryman's in-law will say "No, the guy I heard it from said he heard it in two places" (and now, sadly, someone who doesn't know us will say three).

For fun, throw in some Edmonton hearsay:

I'm not saying Murphy is making stuff up. (Leave that fun to others.) "Hearing" is a wonderful way of couching and distancing mid-level gossip from substantive talks, and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli -- who knows the Oil need defense -- used to run the rumor-swirling show in Boston. (In contrast, when was the last time you heard about a trade by Garth Snow more than 45 minutes before it happened?)

But even if you take these at face value there's nothing to put your hopes on here. At least now you know where the latest rumor is coming from, and you can source the echo chamber that has already formed. Have fun HF Board-ing your own proposals.

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