In Defense Of Taylor Hall

I’ve been hard on Taylor Hall before, no doubt. I wrote back in the winter about potentially moving Hall, as well as the character issues surrounding his work ethic. There’s one thing I’ve always thought however, that Taylor Hall is the franchise face and the best forward that the Edmonton Oilers have.

Would I still trade Taylor Hall this summer? My answer remains the same, if the right offer presents itself, then yes I would. I think that for Hall, for Eberle, for RNH, and for everyone down the line. There are no untouchables on this team, if an offer that betters the Oilers presents itself, they should take it, no doubt.

That said, I wouldn’t trade Hall for anything short of the moon, I wouldn’t shop him, and I’d certainly not label him as expendable, not even close. I think I speak for most Oiler fans, but I clearly don’t speak for the Sportsnet intermission panel.

During the first intermission of the Oilers/Jets game on Monday night, analyst Corey Hirsch called out Hall to a degree, saying the player hasn’t exactly developed as hoped and that he could be expendable to the Oilers.

With all due respect, I couldn’t disagree with Mr. Hirsch anymore. Taylor Hall not exactly developing? That’s an insane thought, seriously.

In 290 NHL games played, Hall has scored 257 points, that’s less than a point-per-game, but that is very good for the NHL. It’s pretty much a top-line player’s level of production. On top of that, Hall has been dynamite the previous two seasons.

In 2012-13, Hall scored 50 points in 45 games (lockout shortened), which is better than a point-per-game. Hall built off of that last season, scoring 80 points in 75 games in 2013-14. Once again, that’s better that ppg level and that was good for top-ten in the NHL. That, my friends, is elite offensive production.

This year, Hall’s numbers are down, just 32 points in 44 games, but he’s been injured basically all season. He got hurt in November, and that was basically it. Hall’s missed tons of time, and look well below 100% during the stretches when he has been in the lineup. Yes, it’s been a rough year, but I think we can squarely place the blame on the health of this young star.

Sure, you can argue that Hall’s defensive game isn’t exactly developed, but it’s better than it was when he first came into the NHL back in the fall of 2010. His advanced stat numbers have, over the course of his career, been pretty good too.

This player is, for a lack of a better term, an offensive beast. The Oilers have no one else capable of scoring at the clip Hall scores at, and no one else that can create the chances that Hall creates. That’s a fact.

Labeling a player like that as expendable is, to quote Craig MacTavish, a bold move. Hall isn’t immune from criticism, but let’s make sure that it’s fair first.

Yes, the Oilers are still a bad hockey team, but is that really on Hall? Based on his production the last two seasons, I’d say no way, not even close. I’d blame the goaltending, the management team, and the brutal defense well before I blamed the best offensive player to grace Edmonton since Doug Weight in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Look, Taylor Hall is not a sacred cow, there are no sacred cows on a 28th place hockey team, but to label him as expendable and as not developing as hoped is a little too much. Hall has two seasons under his belt as a point-per-game player, and has proven himself as one of the top-wingers in the game on a terrible hockey club.

Hall is the kind of player that you build around, not dump off and blame failures on. Like I said, if the right deal that IMPROVES the team came around, then fine, but I’m not moving Hall just for the fun of it.

If the Oilers want to succeed within the next three seasons, then Taylor Hall needs to stick around, plain and simple. I know it’s the popular thing to pile it on this guy right now, but this is insane. Complain about Scrivens/Fasth, about Nikitin/Schultz/Ference, about MacTavish/Lowe, these are the guys to blame for this season (along with MANY others, but I don’t have the time).

Has Hall helped this season? Not as much as he should, but let’s not jump on the guy after 44 injury filled hockey games. Let’s wait until Hall plays on a hockey team built to actually be competitive before we make judgments like this.