I never understood why he chose Arizona and then Buffalo... if he got traded from the Devils to a legit top tier contender (like going directly from NJ to Boston) at the time and then signed a long term extension with them, maybe the stability and being surrounded by talent would have allowed him to age a little more gracefully.
He didn’t choose Arizona, he was traded there in his last RFA season.
He then hit the UFA market at the worst time with the frozen COVID cap.
He turned cheaper deals with Colorado and Boston, which was where he made a mistake.
He went to Buffalo because he was stupid and unlucky, which is basically the story of his career.
1) Buffalo offered him 8m. Boston was rumored to have offered him 6m and they eventually did give him 6m/4 years.
2) He thought playing with Eichel would be enough to pump his numbers but Eichel had his Season in Hell. Eichel started the year injured, got more banged up, and then it ended after 21 GP with the infamous neck injury.
3) He was excited to be coached by Ralph Krueger again, “who got the most out of him Edmonton”. Krueger didn’t get the most out of anyone, including Hall, in one of the worst coaching debacles I’ve ever seen.