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Newark N.J. • The New Jersey Devils have acquired former No. 1 overall draft pick Taylor Hall from the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Adam Larsson.
The teams announced the trade Wednesday, two days before the start of free agency.
The trade gives the goal-starved Devils an exciting young left wing, who was the No. 1 pick overall in 2010.
The Oilers get a solid defenseman who was the No. 4 overall selection in 2011. They also get salary cap space to possibly sign free agent Milan Lucic with Hall's $6 million annual salary heading to New Jersey.
The Devils, who have missed the playoffs the past four seasons, have not had a top-notch goal scorer Zach Parise was lost to free agency in 2012 and Ilya Kovalchuk retired and returned to Russia the following season.
The 24-year-old Hall spent his entire six-year career with the Oilers, getting 132 goals and 196 assists in 381 games.
He has led Edmonton in scoring for three of the past four seasons, and has finished in the top three on the squad in each of his six seasons. This past season, he had 26 goals and 39 assists. He represented the Oilers at the All-Star Game.
Larsson had three goals and 15 assists, playing in all 82 games on the Devils' top defensive pairing. The 23-year-old Swede has nine goals and 60 assists in 274 games.