Eleven months ago, I wrote my first story for THW, making the case for how the Chicago Blackhawks signing Taylor Hall could help shape Connor Bedard’s future. I said the veteran forward knew the pressure of being a No. 1 overall pick, how he has the hardware and pedigree to succeed, and why this might have been the savviest signing for general manager Kyle Davidson.
All it took was 10 games spread out over a month, and Hall’s season was done. He aggravated a previous shoulder injury in October and missed a few games, then an iffy hit by Tampa Bay Lightning’s Michael Eyssimont on Nov. 9 forced him to undergo surgery on his right knee and miss the rest of the 2023-24 regular season.
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Ten games, that’s all we’ve seen out of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft’s top pick in a Blackhawks’ uniform, through no fault of his own. Now with one season left on a four-year, $24 million deal he signed ahead of the 2021-22 season, the 32-year-old winger has to perform and earn what could potentially be his last contract with multiple years on it.
Let’s look at how Hall and the Blackhawks could benefit one another this upcoming season.
Hall Needs to Stay Healthy
The most obvious thing for Hall in 2024-25 is to stay healthy: after all, the best ability is availability (which feels like such an archaic cliche – I feel like the best ability is to score goals, or produce offense, but that’s why I’m writing about the game and not coaching or scouting it).
Looking at Hall’s career since he won the Hart Trophy with the New Jersey Devils in 2017-18, the Calgary native has 75 goals and 148 assists for 223 points in 303 regular-season games, equating to about 0.74 points per game (P/G), meaning he’d average around 61 points over a full 82-game season. Heck, knock that down to around 75 games a season, and he’d still give you a point total in the mid-50s, perfectly reasonable for a top-six winger.
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The problem is Hall has only played more than 65 games once since that award-winning campaign, as a litany of injuries have sidetracked the second half of his career. What’s frustrating is in that time, you’ve seen glimpses of what could be a highly productive forward: 52 points between the Devils and Arizona Coyotes in…
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