Taylor Hall Expected To Miss Remainder Of Blackhawks Season With Knee Injury
Taylor Hall will undergo surgery on his right knee and is expected to miss the remainder of the season the Chicago Blackhawks announced on Thursday.
The 32-year-old forward injured his knee when he was hit by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont late in the third period of a 5-3 Chicago win on Nov. 9.
“He’s very disappointed, but just came from an accumulation of a bunch of little injuries,” Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said, according to NBC Sports Chicago.”The game and even practice the other day. It just became unstable that they have to fix it that now.”
Hall has appeared in 10 of the Blackhawks’ 18 games, lighting the lamp twice and adding two helpers.
The 2010 first-overall draft pick and former Hart Trophy winner had already missed six games this season with a lower-body injury and shoulder ailment.
“It’s a huge loss,” Hall’s teammate Nick Foligno said, according to NBC Sports Chicago. “I know what kind of player he is and it just stinks that he really couldn’t get going with injuries. We feel for him. He’s a guy that was really excited about the opportunity he has here.
“In the long run, this will probably be the best thing for him, because you’re going to get a healthy and motivated version of Taylor Hall, which I think is going to be very scary in a lot of ways. But it hurts.”
Foligno has amassed nine points in 17 games for Chicago this season and has relished in his role as a mentor to rookie phenom Connor Bedard.
Hall and Foligno were traded to the Blackhawks in the offseason by the Boston Bruins in an effort to shed some of the cap salary before the first day of free agency. The Bruins received Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell in the deal.