After the Blackhawks practiced on Wednesday, Taylor Hall held court with the media. He was sporting a nice black eye from the hit he received against Calgary on Monday night. He was not as confident that he’ll be in Chicago after the trade deadline as he might have been earlier this year.
Back in October, Hall told Frank Seravalli at Daily Faceoff that he would love to be around Chicago after his current contract expires at the end of the current season. On Wednesday he told us he has “a feeling that’s not really in the cards.”
“I came into this year wanting to continue being a Blackhawk for years to come. I don’t know if that’s going to be the case anymore, but I’ll leave that door open for sure and understand that it’s a business and the team is going to do what’s best for them. I guess we’ll just see what happens.”
Here’s some of what a few people have said about Hall’s trade prospects recently:
- Nick Kypreos (Sportsnet — Jan. 15)
“The most difficult part of trading Hall is that his cap hit is $6 million, which is not going to be easy for most buyers to fit in at the deadline and may require the Blackhawks to retain some salary. Chicago has one of their three retention slots already used and it comes off the books after this season (Jake McCabe). A Hall retention would disappear when the season ends, too.
Though Hall has struggled to get too much going this season he’s still fourth on the team in scoring. Hall has scored just three goals since Dec. 1, but in that time he’s third among all Blackhawks in primary assists.”
- The Fourth Period’s Trade Watch List (Jan. 7 update)
“Chicago will have to eat about half of his contract, but Hall is on the trade block and Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is exploring his options. Hall hasn’t had the best of seasons, but he’s picked up his game of late and that will catch the attention of contenders.”
- Scott Powers (The Athletic — Jan. 8)
“Hall is the likeliest Blackhawks player to appeal to contending teams at the deadline. Although his production has tailed off in the last month, he’s still close to a 20-goal pace. As one NHL executive reminded me, Hall is producing around the same as when he was on a quality Boston Bruins team not too long ago. GMs also won’t forget Hall scored five goals in seven playoff games in 2023. Those things matter to contending teams looking for additions at the deadline. Hall is probably seen as a potential secondary scoring option.
There’s a slight chance the Blackhawks can get a second-round pick for Hall, but most league sources I spoke to believed a third-round pick was more likely. The Blackhawks could boost Hall’s value by retaining half of his $6 million salary cap hit.”