New Jersey Devils: A Better Year For Taylor Hall
By Nick Villano
Taylor Hall was at times the best player on the ice for much of the New Jersey Devils season. He will be even better come next season.
Taylor Hall was the star the New Jersey Devils needed when they traded Adam Larsson to get him last offseason. Hall had a chance to become the face of the future that he wouldn’t get to be with Conor McDavid in Edmonton.
Many will look at Hall’s stat line and believe he did not live up to expectations. He only scored 20 goals with 53 points. Those numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Hall spent most of the season as the go-to player on a team that had nothing else to go to. The line of Hall, Kyle Palmeiri and Travis Zajac spent most of the season as the only unit that could produce offensively. Adam Henrique was streaky, Michael Cammalleri was a no show, and P.A. Parenteau was sent to Nashville. Hall was the only player the Devils could turn to when they needed a goal.
It’s especially hard for Hall to score when he spent so much time in his own zone. The Devils were notorious all season for having terrible zone exits. This caused the team to lean on Hall’s line to start on the defensive end, which shorted his offensive chances.
It seems near impossible that Hall could have another season with a shooting percentage so low. His 8.4 shooting percentage was the lowest of his career. Whether it’s confidence in his shot, or getting in better position, there is no doubt he will find a better way to make it happen this upcoming season.
The talent around Hall will only get better this offseason. For one, players like Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood will improve in their sophomore season. Their offensive numbers will improve now that they have a full NHL season under their belt. Players like Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian could make the main roster, both of which showed a scoring touch in Juniors. A combination of the trade market and free agency will also bring new scoring options to New Jersey.
One of the main reasons Hall will have a better season in 2017-18 is the emergence of the top-overall pick. The Devils are about to draft Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick. Those players will help push Hall to be a better player.
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Things started off very well for Hall. He scored five goals in the team’s first six games. Also, if the Devils improve overall, Hall will only get better. Only four of his 20 goals came in Devils losses. Obviously, a lot of that is on the player for playing down to how his teammates are playing, but if the team is winning that will help the overall mojo of the franchise.
Hall knows how much this season means to his career and his legacy. He just watched how well his old team did without him. That has to motivate him to prove he wasn’t the problem, but that he can be the Devils solution. These reasons will help him have a much better season. A season that could see him score 30 goals for the first time in his career.