Yes, the title is a play on of the J. Giles Band’s hit song “Centerfold”. It came on my Ipod today and I lamely thought it would be a hilarious name for this article. That all being said, there is a sort of serious matter to talk about here, and that is the possibility of Oilers star left winger Taylor Hall playing center when the season opens up in October.
We all figured center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be ready, but that might not be the case, and the Oilers are fully prepared for that. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Oilers have been having Hall work on his faceoff skills for the last few months and Bob McKenzie tweeted that the Oilers will at least try Hall and Gagner as their top two centers.
It’s been debated since he was drafted, should Hall make the move to center, and will it even work? The pros and cons have been debated over 100 times. Hall is a dominate left winger and maybe the best in the game right now. He’s become a star player and the numbers are showing big time.
Some argue that Taylor Hall’s game would change and he wouldn’t be nearly as good as a center. He couldn’t play the game where he drives with his speed deep into the offensive zone and make things happen, because he’d have a true defensive responsibility. Personally, I don’t buy that argument.
Taylor Hall moving to center could be one of the best things to happen to the Oilers in a long time if things go according to plan. It could fill a very large hole that has killed the Oilers every single year in recent memory.
Taylor Hall carries the puck a lot like a center, and skilled players find a way to get their skill to shine. Taylor Hall is a 70-90 point player in the NHL, and I don’t think a switch to center is going to hurt that kind of total.
The only real down side here is this, Hall plays center for a month and it doesn’t work out. Hall goes back to wing and Nugent-Hopkins returns from injury fully healthy, while Hall dominates his left side.
Best case scenario? All of a sudden Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Gagner and Boyd Gordon are the four centers on the roster. That’s a lot more center depth than we all thought isn’t it?
Look, I’m not going to sit here and say this will be a seamless transition, it probably won’t be. Hall is a legit top winger and being asked to play a position he hasn’t played in years, a much tougher position might I add. That being said, long ago another dominate Oilers power-winger named Mark Messier made the change to center and his career took off. I’m not saying it will be the same, I’m just saying it’s possible.
Taylor Hall is a special player, he’s Edmonton’s BEST player. Trying him out at center could fill the biggest hole on Edmonton’s roster. It’s worth a try right?
The pre-season just got that much more interesting. Oh, and this opens up a top-six wing spot…..are you reading Linus Omark?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
