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Taylor Hall Was Really Good For A Really Bad Team

July 21, 2016, 1:07 PM ET [140 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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Taylor Hall's elite ability to put up points at 5 v 5 has been well documented in this space but I haven't really touched on a very important statistic: on-ice goal differential.

The object of hockey, of course, is to outscore the opposition and the otherwise dreadful Oilers have somehow managed to do just that with Hall on the ice.

Over the last two seasons the Oilers controlled 51.7% of the 5 v 5 goals with Hall out there. Without Hall those numbers dropped off a cliff as they controlled a woeful 39.8%(!!) of the goals.

In other words they have been an above average team with Hall on the ice and an AHL caliber team with him catching a breather on the bench.

Hall's goals for percentage relative to the team of +11.9% ties him with Joe Thornton for 4th in the NHL over the last couple years. Only Joe Pavelski, Blake Wheeler and Daniel Sedin rank ahead.

Unfortunately for Hall it hasn't been too difficult to soar past the low bar the Oilers have set for him. Of the 101 forwards who logged at least 2,000 5 v 5 minutes from 2014-16 none of them have had to sit and watch their team get crushed in the goal department like Hall has with the Oilers.

Daniel Sedin comes closest to feeling Hall's pain as the Canucks scored just 41.2% of the goals at 5 v 5 without him on the ice over the last couple years.

The New Jersey Devils haven't exactly been world beaters for a few seasons now but they are undoubtedly trending in the right direction and will provide Hall with a lot more help than he has had in years past with the Oilers (it's a low bar, I know).

I'm sure he'll happily take it.

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