Late Sunday evening the Bruins traded Anders Bjork and a 2021 2nd round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for Taylor Hall and forward Curtis Lazar.

It sure sounds like this was how the Bruins and Hall wanted things to play out.

In the offseason the Bruins wanted Hall and Hall wanted the Bruins. But instead, Hall went to Buffalo on a one-year, $8M contract, a contract that included a full no movement clause.

“In the summer, I can’t really dive into it too much. I was ready to be a Bruin and some other things didn’t work out. It was not like any hard feelings or anything like that,” said Hall.

“I was ready to come to Boston and it didn’t work out. I had to choose between some other options, but I’ve always had a ton of respect for the Bruins organization and the city of Boston.”

The need for each other was almost too perfect: the Bruins desperate for a top-six winger to slot alongside David Krejci. Hall wanting an opportunity to play for a winner after just two playoff appearances in 11 seasons.

But with all of that on the table, Hall chose the Sabres over the Bruins, joining a franchise that since Hall joined the league in 2010, has made the playoffs just once, coming in Hall’s rookie season.

How and why did this happen when a Hall signing in Boston over the summer made so much sense?

Salary Cap you think?

“Looking at it in the summer, this is a team in Boston that I would have loved to play for and I’m here now, I’m very excited about that,” said Hall.

Sure, general manager Don Sweeney could have got creative to make it work, but that would have required him to move out some bodies that clearly he wasn’t willing to part ways with just yet.

So did Sweeney steal a page out of the Bill Belichick playbook, knowing that with Hall signing in Buffalo, the Sabres still would not be a playoff team, and with a NMC in his back pocket, Hall could sway a trade in his favor, and to Boston?

You know, the destination he wanted all along.

“Once I knew there was a possibility I would be traded, Boston was basically number one in the list of teams that I wanted to go to,” said Hall. “The no move [clause] really helped me be a Bruin. Since I knew I would be traded the last few weeks, it was a team that I really wanted to join and really wanted to be a part of.”

It also sounds like a contract extension is something Sweeney and Hall have already discussed. Or, was this another layer to the master plan Sweeney and Hall created over the summer?

“I’d love to be a Bruin for a few years, it’s obviously been a bad year for me personally and I need to play well. I need to contribute and most of all I want to be part of a team that wins games and I really believe we can do that here,” said Hall.

“I think the best way to get confidence is be a part of a winning team and to make yourself part of the bigger solution and that’s what I look forward to doing.”

The biggest difference between getting a deal done with Hall last summer and this one is David Krejci and his cap hit.

With Krejci set to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season, the Bruins free up $7.25 of cap space.

A chunk of change that should be more than enough to sign Hall to a multi-year contract.

“Going to Boston there’s so many great players, hall-of-famers that have had just amazing careers. Careers that if I had anything like that at the end of my career, I’d be super happy with,” said Hall.

“I’m 29 years-old and I still feel that you can learn stuff about the game at this age, you can better yourself as a player and a leader and seeing these guys, I’m excited to be a part of that group.

If this was indeed Sweeney’s plan, it’s a risky one at that.

But in a sense, it may have worked to his benefit. Hall’s tough season to date in Buffalo has hurt his value. You just saw it with the Bruins trading Bjork and a second rounder instead of the first round pick Buffalo reportedly was asking for.

So if an extension is in the cards, by waiting a few months to acquire Hall, it may have saved Sweeney a few million on a Hall contract.

Hall will drive from Buffalo to Boston on Monday and is expected to be in the Bruins lineup Tuesday night when they host Hall’s former team.

“It was such a whirlwind of a year. It went pretty badly obviously. For myself, it wasn’t the season I would have liked to have, not even close,” said Hall.

I think it's unfair to expect Hall to revert back to the one we saw in Edmonton, or the MVP Hall we saw in New Jersey.

But if Hall can come in, and produce in what should ultimately be a second line role, providing five-on-five offense, with or without a extension in the future, it's a roll of the dice that should favor the Bruins.

“These last few days you do some soul searching and you look back on what you could do better and look forward to the future," said Hall.

"I’m so happy and excited to be a part of the Bruins.”

To me, it sounds like being a part of the Bruins was the plan all along.

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