Taylor Hall has now played for seven different teams in the NHL. This is rare for a former No. 1 overall pick who had a solid career and even won the Hart Trophy. While he moved less in the first half of his career, the last number of years have seen him bounce back.
Hall’s final move from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Carolina Hurricanes came in the final year of his contract. The next day after being tackled for the fifth time in his career, he made his first appearance for the Hurricanes.
Carolina didn’t get the win and Hall didn’t get the set of results, but he wasn’t invisible either. He lined up on the fourth line with Jack Roslovic and Juha Gaska and recorded three shots and one hit in 11:36 of ice time.
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Hall’s line was better than average in the game against the New York Islanders, but unfortunately it resulted in a loss. This doesn’t change the fact that barring a complete collapse from the Hurricanes, the veteran will get into the playoffs and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Hall only appeared in the playoffs five times and made it out of the first round once (again his team won the round). He has 39 playoff appearances to his 879 regular season games.
Carolina once again loaded it up and looks ready to run deep if they can get over the hump.
While Hall debuted on the fourth line and Carolina’s second power play unit, he is a much better position at the bottom for a 30-16-4 team than a 15-28-5 team.
There is no doubt that with the team adjusting to not only add Hall to the forward group, but Mikko Rantanen and the departures of Martin Necas and Jack Drury, there will be some lines left for the 32-game regular season.
Could Hall finally reach the top after an eventful career moving forward? That being said, we’ll have to wait and see. The East looks weaker than the West this season, so the path to the Stanley Cup might be a little easier, but the playoffs are a whole different animal and neither team can be counted out.
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