CHICAGO -- Taylor Hall said he and Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson are on the same page after the 33-year-old forward was caught off guard being a healthy scratch in a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
"We communicated," Hall said after practice Monday. "It wasn't anything argumentative. He thought it was best for me to reset, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm not immune to coaching or immune to being held accountable. I just want to play better and be better for our team."
The 2018 Hart Trophy winner voted as NHL most valuable player, who has six points (two goals, four assists) in 17 games this season, said the healthy scratch was "unexpected from the standpoint of I didn't know that I was even close to being in that spot really.
"If there were some conversations in the days leading up about my game, or if I was constantly being shown video, it would be one thing," Hall said. "I was a bit surprised."
Richardson said the lack of communication with Hall on the impending scratch, "could be part my problem, too."
"Sometimes you give veterans a little more of a grace period and I know he's been frustrated," Richardson said. "I don't want the frustration to lead too long, so it was good time for maybe a little setback, but for me to communicate with him, I need to get to know the player more to see how they like to handle that. We've talked lots during and after but maybe it needs to be more before, so that's just something I learned about one player."
The No. 1 pick by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2010 NHL Draft, Hall has 703 points (268 goals, 435 assists) in 849 games for the Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins and Blackhawks, including an NHL career-high 93 points (39 goals, 54 assists) in 76 games with the Devils during his Hart Trophy-winning season. Chicago acquired Hall and Nick Foligno in a trade with Boston on June 26, 2023. Hall had four points (two goals, two assists) in 10 games in 2023-24 before having season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee Nov. 27.
Hall was at left wing on the second line with center Ryan Donato and right wing Ilya Mikheyev at practice and is expected to be in the lineup when the Blackhawks (6-11-1) play the Anaheim Duck at United Center on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, CHSN, KCOP-13).
"(Richardson) thought it was best for me to just reset, and so that's what I'm going to do," Hall said. "There (are) some things in my game that when I'm not playing well, Luke and the coaching staff obviously just want me to do a bit better, so that's really it. We talked, we talked today, and I'm excited to play tomorrow."
Richardson, in his third season as Blackhawks coach, said he felt Hall will be fine after a "reset."
"He had a great practice today and part of my thought process is to have a couple of days like this to reset and we hope it leads that way," Richardson said.
