Older, wiser Taylor Hall is a man at peace helping along the next No. 1 pick

Credit: Taylor Hall (© Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports)

Twenty minutes before opening night in Pittsburgh, Taylor Hall was stretching on a foam roller next to Connor Bedard and feeling a twinge of nerves. There are always jitters on opening night, he said. Hall maybe even felt a touch unprepared, since welcoming his first child to the world just 48 hours earlier made the lead-up a whirlwind. And then he looked over at Bedard.

“You would never have known he’s playing his first NHL game,” Hall said.

Once upon a time, that was Hall for the Edmonton Oilers. Now as Bedard’s linemate and one of his mentors, last Tuesday was not only a reminder of how 14 years fly by in the blink of an eye, but an inflection point on how different life is now.

Taylor Hall has always been introspective, but he looks, plays and sounds like a man at peace now.

“I think I’m just older and I think I realize … ,” the 31-year-old said. “Coming to the rink now is different. I’m definitely more grateful. I see the bigger picture a lot more.”

Hall is playing for his fifth team in five seasons (New Jersey, Arizona, Buffalo, Boston) but feels at home in Chicago, saying it’s the most comfortable he’s felt on any team he’s joined. In the past, getting traded – especially for nothing in return as the Bruins dumped his salary – might have eaten him up the way it did when Peter Chiarelli moved him to the Devils in exchange for Adam Larsson. (The trade was one for one.)

“I didn’t take the trade as hard as I would have in 2016,” Hall said. “I would have loved to have stayed in Boston. I had a lot of time to digest this trade. I wanted a bigger role than I had last year in Boston and I wasn’t going to get that. It took me a couple days after the trade to see that. It’s not all negative, so I tried to look at that and dig into that.”

It was a no-brainer for the Blackhawks, who traded two restricted free agents (Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula) whom they had no plans on re-signing, to Boston in exchange for Hall and the rights to fellow veteran Nick Foligno. Hall was a luxury the Bruins could not afford. The Bruins had to pay the piper for Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s bonus-laden contracts, plus make room for Jeremy Swayman’s new deal and still needed to fill out their roster.

So, without giving up anything, Chicago landed a former Hart Trophy winner who scored at a 50-point pace last season over a full 82 games and, oh yeah, he also happened to be a No. 1 overall pick who also helped shepherd Connor McDavid into the NHL in Edmonton. Hall wasn’t brought in to be a piece of furniture, the Blackhawks think he has plenty of game left.

“I think first and foremost it was the play on the ice and how he played, being a left-shot on the left-side with Connor [Bedard] a right-shot in the middle,” Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said on Frankly Speaking. “I thought he had a really good end of the season. He was having an upward trend. Great first round [of the playoffs]. Availability was key. Price, that too. But it was pace of play, having experience in the league, then the experience of having played with Connor McDavid and Nico Hischier in New Jersey. The whole package and the little extra experience, that was icing on the cake.”

Playing with Bedard has given Hall a shot in the arm. How good is the 18-year-old phenom?

“He’s the real deal,” Hall said. “I hate to make a headline by what I think he’s going to be. But he’s the real deal. He’s a different player than if you compare him to [Connor] McDavid or [Sidney] Crosby. He’s got a bit of everything to his game. And I think we’ve all been impressed with him off the ice, but on the ice, his skill is something that you don’t see often.”

Hall would know. He’s played with more No. 1 picks that any player on Planet Earth: McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, Hischier, Jack Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin – plus he skated with Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Aaron Ekblad in a Team Canada sweater.

“He’s been awesome to get to know,” Hall said. “I love his demeanor. I love how you would’ve never known it was his first game. You look at him after the game, he’s not even sweating. He’s got a calm demeanor that’s really going to serve him well. Confident and sure of himself in a good way, but he knows he’s still a rookie.”

Part of what Hall will be tasked with in mentoring Bedard is keeping his confidence on the rails after hitting the inevitable speed bump or two. Bedard was frustrated with one of his preseason outings – on a night that coach Luke Richardson said wasn’t all bad, he did score an empty netter, after all – and showed up to the team’s facility the next day ready to go. The only problem? The Blackhawks didn’t have practice scheduled that day. Bedard wanted to go to work, but the CBA mandates that players have one day off per week.

“I’ve been a guy that’s been too hard on myself at times in my career, so I definitely understand that,” Hall said. “I have mentioned to him a couple times – you know, the guys you’re playing against are in the NHL, too. It’s not going to be point night every night.”

Hall played 529 games before making his Stanley Cup playoff debut. He’s been connected to so many No. 1 picks because he’s played on some bad, rebuilding teams. Five years ago, it might have driven him crazy in his quest for Lord Stanley that he was shipped from a contender to a bottom feeder.

There’s zero doubt his competitive fire still rages deep. But he’s different now. He rattled off the excitement around the Blackhawks, from Bedard to 22-year-old defenseman Alex Vlasic taking a step and first-round pick Kevin Korchinski flying under the radar.

He’s also older and wiser – and has a clear view of the bigger picture and his place in it. This time with Bedard, he wants to see through what he started with McDavid.

“I’ve got some other things going on in my life now, some really good things,” Hall said, referring to his weeks-old son, named Stetson Rush Hall. “Coming here now, there’s some things that are really good for me, my career, my family. We don’t have Cup aspirations this year but there are things that I look forward to, coming here and building a culture. I have two years left on my deal and I’d love to stay and be one of the pieces that is around when there are Cup aspirations.”

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Older, wiser Taylor Hall is a man at peace helping along the next No. 1 pick

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