FEATURE: Hall Prepared to Play in Bigger Role with Blackhawks

When Taylor Hall first learned that the Bruins traded him to the Blackhawks, he didn't know what to expect.

After the trade went through, Hall began to process that the new experience can bring a fresh start for his career but also a chance to help start a new culture within the Blackhawks locker room.

"Obviously, Nick [Foligno] and I are very excited to have more opportunities, more chances to earn ice time and have a little bit bigger role," Hall said. "At this point in our careers, I can say for myself, that's really exciting just building something from the ground up, being a part of that establishing a culture and having some young guys around you to push you is never a bad thing, either. So, it's great."

Last season, the Alberta native produced 16 goals and 20 assists through 61 games with the Bruins. The Blackhawks acquired the forward along with Nick Foligno in exchanged for Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell back on June 27.

Head coach Luke Richardson stated that Hall can bring his speed and offensive capabilities to the team. However, he also knows that the 6-foot-1 forward can bring his experience from the different teams he played for but especially his recent stint with Boston.

"Just being in places where he's been over the last few years, he's moved around a few teams and I think landing in Boston was probably a great spot for him to learn from guys like [Patrice] Bergeron, [David] Krejci and those guys," Richardson said. "His dynamic speed and offense are going to help our team and guys like Connor [Bedard]."

When the Buffalo Sabres traded Hall to Boston in 2021, he appeared on the team's third line for the last three seasons. With the Bruins roster stacked with some of the top players in the league, some skaters took a lesser role in an effort to try and help the team capture the Stanley Cup before they fell in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

As he prepares to join the Blackhawks roster, Hall wants to be able to apply everything he learned in Boston and show that he can be a top line player once again.

"I learned so much from those guys, and from the organization, I have nothing but good memories there," Hall said. "I'm excited to play a bigger role and I'm excited to show that I've grown and show that even at my age, I can still be a top line guy, and that's really exciting for me."

In this year's free agency, Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson wanted to emphasize that he looked for veteran players to help fill in some bigger roles for the team that could expect younger players in the lineup.

With Hall, he can an important player that can provide a unique experience and mentor some rookies that can be valuable to the organization.

"It goes along with some of the great veterans we've got in our room already, but it's that experience, and bringing good people and good professionals into the organization is invaluable," Davidson said. "We feel like we've done that in a significant way with Taylor and Nick."

Despite Boston's advancement to the Stanley Cup Playoff, Hall described that players never know what to expect when they join a new team.

Every season provides new experiences and can bring some new challenges that can bring a team together and make them better and that is what Hall looks forward to the most.

"You never know what an NHL year can bring for a team and you never know how quickly a team can come together and start to gel and really figure things out and that's the exciting part," Hall said.