Taylor Hall missed all but 10 games of the Blackhawks’ season.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — As the Blackhawks trickled onto the ice for their final morning skate of the season Thursday at Crypto.com Arena, Taylor Hall appeared seemingly out of thin air.
The veteran forward, sidelined since November while recovering from ACL surgery in his right knee, reached the stage of his recovery where he could safely participate in light, non-contact drills with the team just in time.
“For me to come on this road trip at the end of the year [and] get some sun, it’s a little reward for me for the hard work that I’ve been putting in,” Hall said. “And it’s always nice to be around the guys, even if it’s just for a 20-minute skate.”
Hall’s absence has contributed to the Hawks’ offensive woes this season, which will mercifully come to an end Thursday night after they face the Kings. Acquired last summer to be Connor Bedard’s right-hand man, the 32-year-old Canadian lasted only 10 games — recording a meager four points — before going down.
Considering he entered the season hoping to prove he could defy the typical aging curve and rediscover his top form after some up-and-down recent years, the knee injury disappointed him just as much as it disappointed the organization.
There were some silver linings, though. For one thing, the timing worked out relatively well to let him spend lots of time with his baby son, Stetson, who was born Oct. 8. That family time has provided something of a psychological reset for Hall after 13 years in the NHL, giving him a break before gearing up for the stretch run of his career.
“I’m trying to do my best to use this time to refresh mentally,” he said.
Secondly, ACL reconstructions and the ensuing rehab processes are more straightforward and foolproof than they used to be, and everything has gone as expected so far. He did most of it in Chicago rather than at his summer home in Ontario.
“When you get a surgery like that [which is] so well-researched, there’s so many different things you can do with rehab now that accelerate healing and help you along,” he said. “I was skating [after] three months, which was my goal to start with. I put a lot of hard work into this.
“To be where I am now, I’m quite proud of myself. [Even] knowing no one really gets to see the work that I do, I know what I’ve done and the hours that I’ve put in.”
At the six-month mark — roughly late May — Hall expects to receive full clearances from his surgeon to resume contact and such. That will give him a full offseason before training camp next season, by which point he believes he’ll easily be 100% healthy.
“You forget [Hall is] an MVP in this league,” coach Luke Richardson said. “The power that he has in his skating, it’s unbelievable. It really elevates things out there. … He should be ready to go first thing at training camp next year, which we’re really excited about.”
He has another year left on his contract, so there’s nothing to figure out on that front. The biggest question will regard where he slots into the Hawks’ 2024-25 depth chart. Will he become Bedard’s designated winger after all, just a year late? Will he fill that role for Frank Nazar instead?
Or will he start lower down the lineup and have to work his way up, since his durability is somewhat uncertain and since Philipp Kurashev and Jason Dickinson ascended into bigger roles in his stead this season? The Hawks will likely bring in at least one new top-six forward this summer, too, adding some much-needed talent but making the lineup even more difficult to predict.