According to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, this was after Hall's lengthy goal droughtwhich is now going on ten games.
Although he has produced a pair of assists in the last five, Hall has seen his utilization decrease, as on November 14th against the Seattle Kraken he only saw 13:23 TOI.
Hall is supposed to be a regular producer, and key top-six forward in the Blackhawks lineup.
The former Hart Trophy Winner is in a rock and a hard place, as the Blackhawks feel he needs more time to focus on his game.
He's been practicing to hone his skills, before Richardson would even put him back in the lineup as seen Saturday morning, prior to the game against the Vancouver Canucks.
While there are no indications that Hall could have requested a trade, sitting a future UFA would decrease his value. How will this develop? Are the Blackhawks secretly using this as a means of letting Hall walk into free agency in the future, or force him to ask for a trade?
All that is out there right now is speculation, but for now, we know Hall isn't in the best situation with the organization right now.
It seems that his game isn't up to par, and he's made statements that he'd like to stick around Chicago during their ongoing rebuild.
All that's left now is to see how it plays out at the end of the season and keep our eyes open during the trade deadline.
In 17 games with the Blackhawks', he has 6 points( 2 G, 4 A) with a -5 and is making $6.0 Million AAV with the team.
POLL | ||
Do you think the Blackhawks will try to trade Hall, or let him walk during free agency? | ||
Trade | 71 | 77.2 % |
Walk | 21 | 22.8 % |
List of polls |