Blackhawks' Hall expected to miss rest of season with knee injury
Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall is expected to miss the rest of the 2023-24 season with a right knee injury, the team announced Thursday.
Head coach Luke Richardson later clarified that Hall is dealing with an ACL issue, according to The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. The winger is set to undergo surgery to address the ailment.
He ended his first season in the Windy City with two goals and four points in just 10 outings. The Blackhawks acquired him from the Boston Bruins in June to serve as a mentor and complementary piece to 2023 first overall pick Connor Bedard on the top line.
Hall appeared to injure his knee on Nov. 9 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a collision with forward Mikey Eyssimont along the boards.
Oh man, Taylor Hall immediately screams in pain and holds his right leg after this hit. He went to the locker room. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/T3gs4LmngJ
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 10, 2023
After the incident, Hall missed the Blackhawks' next two games. He returned for their back-to-back set this past weekend, but he didn't travel with the team for Wednesday's 7-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets as he continued to be evaluated.
The 32-year-old logged just under 17 minutes of ice time and didn't put up a point in his last two games of the 2023-24 campaign.
Hall also spent some time on the sidelines with a shoulder injury prior to getting shut down.
He sustained that ailment off of a hit from Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo during the Blackhawks' second game of the campaign. He was initially listed as week-to-week, but he returned after missing just one game. However, Hall aggravated his shoulder less than one week later and missed the Blackhawks' next three matchups.
Hall is under contract for one more season after this one with a cap hit of $6 million.
Selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2010, Hall has amassed 266 goals and 697 points in 832 outings. He won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 2018.
In corresponding moves, the Blackhawks recalled forwards Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman from the AHL and placed Andreas Athanasiou on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 9.