A Look Back at Taylor Hall's Complicated Tenure in Boston

In the waning hours of April 11, 2021, former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall waived his no-move clause, allowing the Buffalo Sabres to trade the top winger to their division rival Boston Bruins. It was B's general manager Don Sweeney's most significant roster move of the season, which had Boston fighting for a playoff berth amidst the National Hockey League's shortened and silhohed regular season.

For the TD Garden faithful and those from Block Island to Eastport, there was almost no downside to acquiring the 2010 first overall pick in Hall. In fact, eleven years earlier, the Bruins were lucky enough to draft second overall, but eventually settled for Tyler Seguin after the Edmonton Oilers claimed Hall with the first selection. Needless to say, Boston and its fans had followed Hall closely for years and were generally excited to have him wear the black and gold sweater for nothing more than Andres Bjork and second round pick going to Buffalo.

However, in short order, the same siren songs that had followed Hall from Edmonton to New Jersey to Arizona and then to Buffalo soon made their way to New England sports radio and its listeners. Onlookers questioned his mental compete level and his lack of playoff success or experience. And despite 14 points, including 8 goals, in 16 games to close out the 2021 regular season and bring the Bruins to the playoffs -- plus a crucial game-tying goal in a series against the Washington Capitals -- there were still question marks going into the summer about extending Hall and adding him to the core group that was aging and in need of one last Cup run.

But in July of 2021, Hall signed a four-year deal worth $24M, an AAV of $6M per year. It was modest money for a former number one pick and Hart winner, but it signaled to the dressing room and to the league that Hall wanted to be a Bruin. For the 2021-22 season, Hall scored 20 goals with 41 assists in 81 games for the B's, and much was made about him playing early on with less talented lines than he was used to after the departure of David Krejci during the offseason. In the second half, coach Bruce Cassidy shuffled the lines and Hall began playing with all-world winger David Pastrnak, marking likely the first times in his career that he wasn't the best winger on a line. But despite all the movement, Hall rarely complained publicly about a perceived smaller role, even after some on the team, like Jake DeBrusk, requested trades.

After Cassidy's departure an another disappointing playoff finish, Krejci returned to the Bruins for 2022-23 and Hall joined him again on the second line, only to eventually fall to the third line with the emergence of a second 'Czech line' centered around Krejci, Pastrnak and newcomer Pavel Zacha. Still, Hall accepted his smaller role in Boston and made the most of his opportunities, including an overtime winner against Dallas in mid-November and a crucial game-winning assist during the Winter Classic in January. Hall then suffered a lower-body injury in late-February and essentially missed the rest of the regular season, prompting the Bruins to add snarly winger Tyler Bertuzzi as a reinforcement at the trade deadline.

By the 2023 postseason, Hall had returned to help the Bruins quest for a Stanley Cup following the greatest regular season in league history, and, for much of the first round against Florida, the Calgary native was Boston's best player. During the series, Hall scored four goals and had three assists. One of the goals was a game-tying goal in the third period of Game 5 in which he completely changed his body's direction and fired a shot past Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky. Boston would fall in that game and the subsequent two contests, crashing to the surface in what would be one of the most disappointing and unlikely collapses in the history of the sport. Hall admitted that he understood what was at stake in terms of possibly winning a Stanley Cup and how his chances to do so were dwindling. The reasons for the Bruins' historic downfall were plenty, but it's hard not to wonder why Hall never saw more than 16:46 TOI in the series, considering the injuries the Bruins were facing up front and Hall's strong contributions early in the series when Boston was ahead. During the three postseasons that Hall played in Boston, only Brad Marchand and Pastrnak had more points than Hall for the team.

As the Bruins headed into this offseason, question marks have and continued to swirl. Yesterday, Hall was dealt along with veteran Nick Foligno to Chicago in exchange for defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. In a clear move to clear salary, it marks the end of Hall's complicated tenure in Boston.

Once a number one pick and Hart Trophy winner, some fans and followers lamented his perceived lack of production and blamed him for his decreased role with the Bruins. Others, like myself, credit Hall for doing what few star athletes who come to Boston (think Kyrie Irving and Adrian Gonzalez) are able to do - put their egos aside and accept a role fit for the team. Taylor Hall did not only that, but he also produced when it mattered most and chose twice to be a Bruin when he could've made more money elsewhere. And for that, Bruins fans should be grateful.