There were about as many people who believed Taylor Hall’s stay with the Buffalo Sabres would be a short one as there were those who thought he might sign long-term. After he agreed to a one-year deal in free agency, speculation was that he could be one of the hottest trade commodities before this year’s NHL Trade Deadline and the Sabres early struggles hasn’t really squashed those rumors.
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Now, Hall’s comments about his run with the Sabres thus far has added more fuel to the fire when it comes to a possible move before this season comes to a close.
Hall recently spoke to the media after the Sabres were defeated 3-0 by the New York Islanders and said this tenure with Buffalo hasn’t exactly gone the way he’d have hoped. Hall hasn’t scored a goal since the first game of the season, making it 10 straight games without one and he’s been held without a point in six of his last eight games.
He noted:
It’s been a struggle for me, personally. I feel like I’ve had some bad luck a bit. But at the same time, when you’re not scoring, you got to change something, you got to find whatever is in your game that’s not allowing you to put the puck in the net.
Sitting on the season with only one goal, Hall wondered where the Sabres would sit in the standing if he was producing more regularly. He said, “Right now, it’s been tough. I can’t lie to you.” He added, “If I have four or five goals right now, you don’t really know what our season looks like, especially with how close the games we had and how much we’ve been in games right until the very end.”
Will This Lead To Him Wanting a Change?
The idea in signing Hall was that he’d find instant chemistry with Jack Eichel. That hasn’t happened.
Granted, the Sabres have been one of the NHL teams hit hardest by the COVID virus and the team returned after a 14-day layoff. Hall too has been affected by that and perhaps not getting into any sort of rhythm has hurt his game. In his defense, he’s also got eight assists and nine points in 12 contests.
It will be interesting to see what Hall and the Sabres do once they start playing games every other night. If his numbers don’t improve, many will call the Eichel and Hall experiment a fail and Hall will find himself at the top of trade bait boards in a matter of a few weeks. He’s already been shuffled onto a line with Eric Staal and Sam Reinhart.
If a trade is inevitable, it could be something he’d probably welcome, even if he says he thinks the Sabres can turn things around.
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