RALEIGH, N.C. – Taylor Hall didn’t take long to adjust being with the Carolina Hurricanes.
In his second game since the Chicago Blackhawks traded him Friday, he assisted winger Andrei Svechnikov on the opening goal just 56 seconds into Tuesday’s 4-0 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s always different joining a new team, but I’ve found the system and the structure and the way they play has been a good fit with me,” said Hall on Thursday, hours before he was set to face the Hawks at Lenovo Center. “I’ve been a good fit with them.”
Was Hall ever a good fit with the Hawks?
“They’re on a different timeline than my career is, so I get it, I understand it,” he said. “I wanted to play more. I’m definitely a better player than the amount I was playing.”
Hall, 33, averaged a career-low 14 minutes, 59 seconds with the Hawks, with four of his last eight games under 12 minutes and only two over 15.
“But you also understand where they’re coming from,” he said. “They wanted to play young guys, they wanted to play guys up in the lineup. It was what it was. I still have a lot of respect for the people there and I did like being a Blackhawk a lot and loved the city.
“Just the way it worked out.”
Asked whether Hall expressed frustration over his ice time, Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said they discussed it.
“I think it’s opportunities for everybody, right?” Sorensen said. “I’m not sure if we’re looking exactly what age you are, but if you’re playing well and you’re contributing the way we’re expected to, then you’ll get your opportunities.”
Hall said he knew Carolina was interested in him, but the timing of the trade still came as a surprise.
“On that day, Patty Maroon came to the soccer (game before puck drop) a little bit late and said they told him to get ready to play,” he said. “That was my cue to know that I might not be playing that night, and then from there was told that I had been traded.”
Hall seemed divided between wanting to move on but also wanting to stay true to what transpired in Chicago.
His first season was disrupted by shoulder and knee injuries, ending with ACL surgery after just 10 games. His second season saw him scratched by coach Luke Richardson, with no warning, and then getting less ice time under Sorensen.
“I’m just looking forward to the future,” he said.
“I like Anders a lot, honestly, I think he’s a really good coach. (Ryan) Donato and myself, I felt like we produced pretty well five-on-five and we were both playing pretty far down the lineup. He’s a free agent at the end of the year, too. I just don’t know if we were in their plans.”
“They're on a different timeline than my career is, right? So I get it. I understand it. I wanted to play more. I'm definitely a better player than the amount I was playing. But you also understand where they're coming from.”—Taylor Hall on the Blackhawks trading him
— Phil Thompson (@philthompsontrib.bsky.social) 2025-01-30T16:41:05.433Z
Hall had a higher expected goals percentage with Donato (50.5%) than without him (40.8%).
“Taylor’s a guy that’s really easy to play with,” Donato said. “He’s really smart. When he gets the puck with open ice, he’s really good, and down low, he can dish and he can score. … I’m sure he’ll do the some big things in Carolina.
Donato, as an eight-year veteran, may not have the resume of Hall, who is in his 15th season. But he’s having a career year with the Hawks — he’s already one goal away from tying his career high of 16 — and ranks third on the Hawks in points (29), trailing Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teräväinen.
Yet Donato’s been up and down the lineup more than Hall, kind of used as the Hawks’ Swiss army knife.
Hall questioned whether Hawks management has Donato in their long-term plans, giving the franchise’s emphasis on high-value prospects, but Donato said he’s hopeful.
“I like Chicago a lot,” Donato told the Tribune. “I’ll give everything I have to my teammates as long as I’m here, and I hope that I can play myself in a position where I’m here long term, or whatever plans they have may be.
“I don’t want to tell (management) that I think I deserve anything. Nobody deserves anything in this league, you have to earn it.”
Meanwhile, Hall hopes to earn his stripes with a perennial Stanley Cup contender.
“It wasn’t like I was in a position to pick where I was going to go. But when the opportunity came, I was definitely excited to join this team,” he said. “Feels like they’ve been on the cusp and they have a lot of playoff experience, which is huge.”
He’s fortunate things shook out the way they did, with the Canes acquiring former Colorado Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen as well.
Hall produced nine goals and 15 assists for a Hawks team undergoing a rebuild, and he shot 11% – not his full-season career-best 14% with the New Jersey Devils in 2017-18, but nowhere near his worst either.
“My playing time in Chicago, for whatever reason, was not what I would’ve liked it to be, so I was happy to be traded and I was happy to come to a really good team here that has a culture in place and a structure that I feel fits well with me,” he said.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour called Hall and Rantanen “two remarkable players.”
“When you add a player that has that pedigree, that’s a special addition,” he said of Hall. “I know he’s been injured, and I know he had a little bit of a dip. But I think the fire is still there, the player can still play, and (if) we can get, remotely, him playing to his top end, we’re going to be in good shape.”