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On Zajac, Henrique, and centering Hall |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
When the New Jersey Devils traded for Taylor Hall a year ago, many quickly assumed he'd be at his best with Adam Henrique centering his line.
On the surface, it made some sense. Henrique and Hall enjoyed a lot of success together in Windsor, Henrique was the most talented offensive center on the roster, and Hall's playmaking ability figured to mesh well with Henrique's finishing.
The two didn't gel, and produce, like everyone expected, though.
The sample size wasn't overly large but the Devils were out-attempted and outscored with the two together, whereas the Devils decisively controlled play when Hall was with Travis Zajac.
Hall and Zajac not only posted much better numbers, but they did so while seeing less favorable zone starts.
Many would like to see Hall with someone else -- be it Henrique or rookie Nico Hischier -- because they don't feel Travis Zajac is a No. 1 center. I'm not going to argue he is at this point in his career, but the Hall-Zajac duo still managed to get high-end 1st line results and that's what matters.
For perspective of how good they were together, take a look at some big name duos who posted similar numbers.
The Zajac-Hall duo isn't as talented as any of those listed -- nobody would argue otherwise -- but they obviously did something right to post numbers like that.
Whether that kind of success can continue remains to be seen, but I'd play those two together --
along with Kyle Palmieri -- as long as it does.
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