Former Oilers First Overall Pick Gets Healthy Scratched, Potentially on Trade Block
The Chicago Blackhawks will be taking on the Vancouver Canucks tonight on the road, and Hawks coach Luke Richardson is looking to send a message by scratching Taylor Hall.
The former Oilers first overall pick will be sitting on the sidelines as a healthy scratch after 17 games with the Blackhawks this year, where Hall has only scored 6 points.
Hall is coming back from an ACL injury that he had surgery on last season, and it's notoriously a difficult injury to come back from. Still, Hall believes that he should be in the lineup, and isn't happy with the decision tonight.
Hawks coach Luke Richardson said that this scratch is about getting Taylor Hall back to «game speed», which is extremely concerning to hear. Now 33 years old, age isn't on Hall's side to recover from this injury.
Just 6 years removed from an MVP trophy with the New Jersey Devils, it must be a tough pill to swallow for Hall to be healthy scratched by the lowly Blackhawks - but the game results do say that he's simply not good enough right now.
Hopefully, he's able to find his speed in the coming months as he strengthens out of the ACL injury. Hall is in the final year of his contract which pays him $6M this season.
Because Hall is a big name player on a rebuilding team with an expiring contract, there has been solid rumours that Hall could be traded this season. That could still be the case, but after this healthy scratch, Hall will need to prove to the NHL that he can still be an effective player, and stay in the league.
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