Taylor Hall's media day comments shouldn't sit well with Blackhawks fans

The Carolina Hurricanes will host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight (7 pm CT, ABC). There are two former Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League’s championship series; one who could get his name on the Stanley Cup for the third time, and one who is looking for his first engraving.

Scott Rogust already gave you all the reasons to cheer for Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad. However, Saad has only played in five games this postseason, the five that captain Mark Stone missed due to injury, so it remains to be seen if we even see him in the series.

On the other side of the ice, there’s Taylor Hall. His Blackhawks tenure was not nearly as successful, so he might not get fans excited, but that doesn’t take away from what he’s accomplished this postseason.

Hall Tells on Himself

Hall joined the Blackhawks just ahead of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, when he and Nick Foligno were acquired from the Boston Bruins for defenseman Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. He was brought in to be a mentor and linemate for Connor Bedard. He got off to a great start with two goals and four points in the first seven games of the 2023-24 season. Then a knee injury ended his season after only 10 games.

The following season saw Hall return from injury, but things never really got off the ground for him. He was a healthy scratch in mid-November and went on record to say that he wasn’t told of the decision by head coach Luke Richardson.

After nine goals and 24 points in 46 games, Hall was involved in the Jan. 24, 2025, three-team trade that sent Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche to the Hurricanes. He had nine goals and 18 points in his 31 games to close out his season. His recent comments about arriving in Carolina may not sit right with Blackhawks fans.

“We’re a very fit team,” Hall said. “When I got here from Chicago last year, I wasn’t in skating shape enough to play the way I wanted to here. It took me a couple of weeks because there is a lot of skating in the way that we play. Now it seems like second nature. It doesn’t hurt that your coach is in shape like that. He’s a role model for us, and we follow his lead.”

This is not a very flattering comment for either Hall or the Blackhawks. Granted, Hall was coming off a serious knee injury, but not to be in “skating shape” by late January is an indictment of his commitment to the team. Not sure how you can be surprised you’re a healthy scratch in November, to admitting you weren’t in good shape come January. It also shows that the standard Richardson and Anders Sorensen was not as high as it should have been.

Former MVP Earning His Check

Hall played well enough to close out the season to earn a three-year, $9.5 million contract extension from the Hurricanes. The 34-year-old winger has earned every penny of that deal this season. He played 80 regular-season games for only the second time in his 16-season career and for the first time since 2021-22. He scored 18 goals and 48 points, his best offensive season in four years. He really ramped up the production during the Hurricanes’ run to the Eastern Conference championship.

Through 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games, Hall has five goals and leads the team with 11 assists and 16 points. His line with youngsters Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven has been one of the best in the postseason.

"He's making those guys a little older, but those guys are bringing the best out of Hallsy, and that line's been incredible," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook told NHL.com. "Obviously, we're going to need them to continue that, and we're going to need everybody. It's been a lot of fun watching those guys because it feels like every time they touch the puck, something good is about to happen."

His Chicago stint aside, Hall’s path to this moment makes him easy to cheer for. He was the first overall pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. The 2018 Hart Trophy winner played 1,056 total NHL games before reaching the Stanley Cup Final. That is the most by a former No. 1 pick since Alex Ovechkin in 2018. In a fun note, Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals beat the Golden Knights in that Stanley Cup Final. If the Hurricanes can duplicate that feat, he will surpass defenseman Erik Johnson for the most seasons (14) by a No. 1 pick before winning the Stanley Cup.

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