In 16 games with the Coyotes, since being acquired at such a discount that Ray Shero is no longer an NHL GM, Taylor Hall has been nothing short of spectacular.
Hall is without a point in only five of those games, and has 15 points overall. (Totals being suppressed here slightly by an 8% on-ice shooting percentage).
Hall's Corsi is just below 50%, but positive relative to the team he plays on (remember, the Coyotes' success is built almost exclusively on goaltending, meaning that they don't drive play very well, or score very much).
Across the board Hall's stats are positive relative to the team, although that should be expected since he is the best player on the team (and probably in franchise history, for that matter).
Hall has 9 5v5 points in 16 games, which is very good. He has a 2.36 P/60 rating. That is elite. For context, McDavid is at 2.88, Marner's is the same and Eichel's is lower.
(Panarin is a beast and leads the league with 3.73).
In total, Hall has 7 goals in 16 games, which is a 35 goal pace.
In my opinion, if the Coyotes want to get more out of Hall, they've got to experiment with him playing with other players.
He has played almost exclusively with Christian Dvorak since joining the team, and they've been OK. 54% together, and Dvorak is scoring more than he usually does (9 in 16 since).
The problem is that Dvorak has a very low offensive ceiling. He's not the kind of playmaker a sniper like Big T deserves. (Note: I call him "Big T" now).
In limited minutes, here is a list of the elite offensive players Hall has skated with this year and their possession ratings:
Jack Hughes 62%
Phil Kessel 63%
Nikita Gusev 70%
Clayton Keller 75%
Dvorak and Garland are nice players, but they are third liners. They are not now nor will they ever be elite players. Hall - as should surprise no one - does better when paired with other players of his caliber.
Taylor Hall needs a peer to reach his full potential. I get that the Coyotes have limited options and are hesitant to load up, but if you're going to go to the trouble of adding a Big T to your lineup, then you've got to give him the sauce he needs to spice his hotdog accordingly.
Hall has been very good so far. If you want to see him be great, skate him on a line with Keller or Kessel, preferably both.
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