Taylor Hall is Killing It

[MiamiHockey]

The Pens have nothing the Oilers want for Hall.

Olli Maatta ... but the Pens would not deal him.

 

[kickaction]

Taylor Hall is coming to a similar point in his career that Nash was when he figured out the 200-foot game. Hall is never going to put up much more than 70-80 points (although having McDavid might help with that) and the major concern with him is his lack of defensive acumen.

He put up 80 points last year as a 22 year old.

 

[MiamiHockey]

He put up 80 points last year as a 22 year old.

I know ... which is why I said "much more than"

 

[missinthejets]

The NHL awards up to 2 assists for every goal, so all else equal you'd fully expect Hall to have more Assists than Goals. But if you ever watched the Oilers PP struggle, it was when Hall tried to make plays with it on the half-wall. He is not a playmaker. Eberle and RNH are.

Yeah I did watch the Oilers PP struggle, most of it had to do with 2 things, lack of good options for the point and related to that, Dallas Eakins trying to cram square pegs into round holes.

Play making isn't a weakness in Halls game, I think Halls biggest weakness as an offensive player is truthfully his finishing ability. His shot isn't quick enough or accurate enough to be a legitimate sniper. It's a hard shot and he can beat goaltenders with it, but it's not as reliable as a lot of the best goal scorers. I would actually put playmaking as his best offensive skill but he is pretty balanced as an offensive player.

 

[McPuritania]

No one is doubting Taylor Hall's elite talent. What we're doubting is his ability to go a full season without breaking his porcelain physique. His speed is a treat to watch.

I hate it when one person speaks for the entire collective. More than one person was criticizing Hall without speaking to his style of play, or injury woes.

Because Ennis and Toffoli aren't established elite NHLers? What Hall is doing is fairly impressive, but also not a lot more than expected of someone of his calibre. Has nothing to do with him being an Oiler and everything to do with him being a top 3 LW in the NHL.

Wait, so because Hall is an elite winger, it's appropriate to downplay his contributions? What a ridiculous line of thought. So why then did the RnH, and Eberle thread at the end of the season get turned into a 30 page bash thread, while the OEL thread was full of high fives, and positive posts? Nuge, and Eberle aren't established elite players according to HF, but OEL most certainly is. I don't want to hear anything about garbage time either. OEL was scoring his points out of the playoff picture, just like the Oiler guys were.

 

[A91]

Olli Maatta ... but the Pens would not deal him.

Don't worry. Mattaa, as good as he may be, doesn't get you anywhere near Hall.

 

[Aceonfire*]

No one is doubting Taylor Hall's elite talent. What we're doubting is his ability to go a full season without breaking his porcelain physique. His speed is a treat to watch.

When you take a skate blade to the face does it bounce right off?

The majority of his injuries have been freak accidents and not related to his play style.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Panarin - Shipachev - Dadonov scored 20 points in 4 games. That's what you call killing it.

 

[Aceonfire*]

Panarin - Shipachev - Dadonov scored 20 points in 4 games. That's what you call killing it.

Being 4th as a team in group B isn't exactly killing it.

 

[voxel]

Play making isn't a weakness in Halls game, I think Halls biggest weakness as an offensive player is truthfully his finishing ability. His shot isn't quick enough or accurate enough to be a legitimate sniper. It's a hard shot and he can beat goaltenders with it, but it's not as reliable as a lot of the best goal scorers. I would actually put playmaking as his best offensive skill but he is pretty balanced as an offensive player.

+1

Hall's reputation is wrong. He's a good playmaker with a meh-shot. It's strong, but not sniper elite. That goal from near the goal line is his patented shot. I've seen him score from there at least a dozen times.

The big negative with Hall's game is that he attempts to do too much with it (puck hog) when entering the zone and is prone to giveaways.

Hall and Eberle are flawed but elite wingers for sure - wheres RNH is almost a perfect 2-way 1C in the mold of Datysuk. People will be watching McDavid and going "Wow, RNH is a great player!"

 

[McGreat One]

+1

Hall's reputation is wrong. He's a good playmaker with a meh-shot. It's strong, but not sniper elite. That goal from near the goal line is his patented shot. I've seen him score from there at least a dozen times.

The big negative with Hall's game is that he attempts to do too much with it (puck hog) when entering the zone and is prone to giveaways.

Hall and Eberle are flawed but elite wingers for sure - wheres RNH is almost a perfect 2-way 1C in the mold of Datysuk. People will be watching McDavid and going "Wow, RNH is a great player!"

Spot on! Agree with everything said here. Hall's not a bad passer, could make smarter plays with the puck sometimes and could utilize his teammates a bit more but his vision and ability to make plays is not a concern at all. If you watch any of Canada's games in this tournament you'll notice that Hall is having success by finding the open ice and being in the right place at the right time and by letting his linemates carry the play. Especially since Crosby joined the line. In Edmonton Hall tries too hard to carry the play when he should be letting RNH and Eberle take care of that and just find the open ice so that his linemates can get him the puck. The addition of McDavid should resolve this.

I also totally agree with your comments about Nuge. Many people who haven't seen much of RNH, especially those in the east, still see Hopkins as a scrawny, one dimensional center too weak to play with the "big boys" in the West. RNH has become a very good defensive player and has gotten much bigger and stronger than people will remember from his rookie year. All these people from the East tuning in just to check out all the hype surrounding McDavid will notice this and realize that RNH is a hell of a lot better than they gave him credit for. Also don't be surprised if the kid is scoring at a point a game pace next season.