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New Jersey Devils: Taylor Hall Knows He Has To Play Better

Nick Villano|
(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

New Jersey Devils star player Taylor Hall has not been the player from his MVP season, or even the player we hoped he was after his knee injury. He’s now saying that same thing.

Taylor Hall looks like he’s having a fine season on paper for the New Jersey Devils. He has 17 points, played all 20 games after his knee injury and never wavered from playing top line minutes. He’s taken 71 shots, and he’s been very aggressive on the power play. This all sounds great, right?

Well, Taylor Hall has not been Taylor Hall this season. The fans see it, analysts see it and now Taylor Hall himself sees it. He spoke with the media today before the Devils went on the road to Pittsburgh. He had a lot of interesting things to say about his own play.

"“Against a team like Boston, if I think I’m one of the best players on this team, the other team’s best players outplayed guys like me. “If we’re going to win games and start to really make a climb in the standings it’s got to be guys like me who step up and produce. That’s really what I’m looking to do.”"

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Well, that’s not holding anything back on yourself. You have to give the guy credit, he’s holding himself accountable on this.

Many fans worry about Hall going through the motions of this season with his impending free agency decision looming. Hall might be out the door, but we can’t believe he’s not going to give it his all every single night. Maybe that contract decision is distracting him in a way, but not because he’s checked out of New Jersey, but because he’s trying to overdo things.

If anything, Hall’s play is based on him caring too much. He’s currently shooting 2.8 percent. Last night, we spoke to Bryce Salvador about Taylor Hall’s woes on the Let’s Go Devils Podcast, and he said that sounded more like his own shooting percentage.

"“There’s a lot of pressure on (Hall) that comes along with the expectations on this team. Everyone expected a lot more.”"

Clearly, Hall expected a lot more of himself. There’s no way he thought he would be averaging one goal every ten games, on pace to have eight on the season. If he doesn’t fix this pace (which he will), he’d go from an $11-13 million possible contract to something closer to $7-8 million. That could be a loss of $40-50 million depending on if teams decide to take years off the deal as well.

Hall really focused on his game in Boston as what looked like a wake-up call for him. In Thursday’s media time, he brought it up multiple times, and every time would steer the conversation to himself.

"“Guys like Pastnak and Marchand, 2 goals and 3 assists. Marchand was +3. And I didn’t really have an effect on the game. If I’m going to be a top-tier player in this league and this team, that has to change.”"

Hall has always taken responsibility for his own mistakes and his own play. He’s never been one to blame others, even when it’s clearly not his fault. This season, he actually should take some blame, but maybe this could be the turning point. His passes could be crisper, his shots come from a better position and maybe he can get a bounce or two. That’s really all he needs. If he gets a silly goal, maybe off his skate or on a weird bounce, that could open the flood gates.

Who knows how long Taylor Hall will be a member of the New Jersey Devils. We have him for now, and we need to enjoy every game he wears an NJ crest. We just want to see him thrive while he’s a member of the Devils.

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