Fuhr reserving judgment on Taylor Hall trade

THUNDER BAY – Grant Fuhr says he’s taking a wait-and-see approach before rendering judgment on the Taylor Hall trade.

Fuhr, the hall-of-fame goaltender, said his ex-team the Edmonton Oilers gave up a lot to beef up their blue-line, netting former fourth-overall pick Adam Larsson from the New Jersey Devils.

Hall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL draft, is a one-time 80-point scorer and was long considered the shining light of the Oilers offence before phenom Connor McDavid arrived this past season.

Still, most experts thought Edmonton would package Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Nail Yakupov for a defenceman.

But when the Columbus Blue Jackets passed on Finnish winger Jesse Puljujarvi with the third pick of this year’s draft, Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli decided Hall was expendable.

It’s the return that has analysts and fans wondering if Chiarelli got fleeced.

Fuhr, in Thunder Bay for the second straight year to play in the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada’s Staal Foundation Open, isn’t ready to go down that road just yet.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “The return is one of those you’re going to have to wait and see how (Larsson) fits because he’s not a flashy guy. He’s a good steady stay-at-home defenceman. It’ll take some fans some patience to get used to that deal.”

Larsson joined the Devils as an 18-year-old in 2011, then split the next two seasons between the NHL and the American Hockey League’s Albany Devils, finally landing in the big leagues for good in 2014-15. He scored three times and added 15 assists for New Jersey last season, playing all 82 games for the first time in his career.

In 274 games, all with New Jersey, he has nine goals and 60 assists.

Despite his uncertainty about how the trade will work out for Edmonton and a playoff drought that hit the decade mark in 2016, Fuhr said he likes the direction the team is headed.

“I think they’re going in the right direction. The biggest thing they need is some chemistry. They’ve got lots of talent, but talent’s only as big as your chemistry is,” he said.

Fuhr has been busy this week, posing for pictures and signing autographs. He also played in both pro-ams and will be in the field when the tournament kicks off on Thursday.