Top 100 Oilers: No. 34 — Taylor Hall

Notable

Hall is one of few players who has beaten Wayne Gretzky in multiple scoring records.

On March 30, 2013, Hall scored the fastest hat trick to start the game in Edmonton Oilers history against the Vancouver Canucks. His first goal came just 16 seconds into the game at even strength, the next Oilers goal was scored one minute and 49 seconds later by defenceman Ladislav Smid. Then, Hall scored again at the 2:43 mark, and capped off the hat trick a little over five minutes of play later, at 7:53.

This defeated Gretzky’s previous 12:38 record that came in the 1985-86 season. Hall’s Oilers remained up 4-0 for the second and third period, closing out the win on the back of Devan Dubnyk’s shutout, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ two assists.

The other record of Gretzky’s that the young superstar broke was the fastest back-to-back goal record on Oct. 17, 2013. He scored two goals in the span of eight seconds, besting the previous title by just one tick. Unfortunately, the Oilers would go on to lose this game 3-2 to the New York Islanders.

The Story

Hall played 183 games, recording 123 goals and 280 points with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires. That domination did not escape the playoffs, where he logged 16 goals and 36 points through 20 games in the 2009 championship, then 17 goals and 35 points in 19 games in 2010.

He spent six seasons with the Oilers and was their best player through the worst extended stretch of hockey in franchise history, until Connor McDavid was drafted in 2015. He and Jordan Eberle, who was drafted 22nd overall the same year, formed quite the dynamic duo despite the team’s overall lack of success. For the former, he tallied 132 goals and 328 points in 381 games played.

In the 2016 offseason, Hall was traded in the infamous one-for-one exchange, that saw Adam Larsson dealt to the Oilers by the New Jersey Devils. And if I may briefly break the fourth wall, I still remember finding out about it while ordering a Philly cheesesteak with my mom when I was 12-years-old.

After his time with the Oilers, Hall spent three years with the New Jersey Devils, his most notable being the 2017-18 season where he won the Hart Memorial Trophy. That year he scored 39 goals and 93 points, resulting in the first NHL playoff appearance for the left winger. In the short-lived five game postseason for Hall and his team, he was above a point per game with six. Overall with the Devils, he achieved 76 goals and 208 points over 211 games.

On Dec. 16, 2019, Hall was traded to the Arizona Coyotes alongside his teammate Blake Speers. The trade saw Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley, Nate Schnarr, a conditional 2020 first-round pick, and a conditional 2021 third-round pick return to the Devils.

With the Coyotes, Hall played 35 games before electing to sign with the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 offseason. His season in Buffalo was the NHL’s reconstructed COVID-19 season resulting in Hall playing 37 games where, only scoring two goals (19 points).

When the Sabres were on track to miss their tenth consecutive playoffs, they elected to move on from the forward as he didn’t pan out the way they had hoped. The Sabres traded Hall and Curtis Lazar to the Boston Bruins for Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick.

Throughout his 158 games in Buffalo, he seemed to return to form, recording 44 goals and 111 points. However, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023 with Nick Foligno for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula.

Chicago was another short lived stint for Hall. He played 56 games over a season, with personal totals of 11 goals and 28 points. Then he was traded for the fourth time in his career, as he was a part of a complicated three-team deal.

The Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, and Carolina Hurricanes were the three parties to engage in the trade that was highlighted by Mikko Rantanen being transferred to the Canes, who returned a second round pick in 2025, a fourth in 2026, Jack Drury, and Martin Nečas to the Avs. Among this, Hall was sent to Carolina with Nils Juntorp for a third round pick in the 2025 draft.

Currently, Hall is in the playoffs with Carolina, who just completed the sweep against the Ottawa Senators on Apr. 25. The winger recorded 2 goals and 7 points throughout the four game series, as the Canes appear to be favourites for the cup this year.

In his career, he has played in 58 playoff games, where he has contributed 18 goals and 42 points across seven appearances. Hall’s regular season stats have also been impressive, as he has registered 302 goals and 787 points in 989 games.

What Brownlee said

Back in the dark days of what seemed like a perpetual rebuild by the Edmonton Oilers, I always thought that it would be Taylor Hall leading the way when the team finally got as good as it is today. It would be Hall, a two-time Memorial Cup MVP, first overall draft pick in 2010 and a big enough deal the team pulled Kevin Lowe’s jersey out of mothballs and gave it to him, who would be the man.

Not so. Here we are seven years later with the Oilers at long last giving their fans something to yell about – other than profanities over another lost season — as they charge toward their first playoff spot in a decade, and it turns out that Hall was just a placeholder for Connor McDavid. Connor da man. Hall is still toiling with an also-ran, but he’s doing it half a continent and a conference away as a member of the New Jersey Devils.

…

For me, Hall is the most talented player the post-2006 Oilers have had outside of McDavid, and allowing that Draisaitl looks to be well on his way. In that regard, he is sort of the Doug Weight of his era – the best player on a team that didn’t win much of anything. Weight’s Oilers, at least, mixed in some memorable playoff moments. If Hall had been a member of this edition of the Oilers, a part of this return to contention outside of being the trade chip that landed Larsson, he’d be higher on this list already.

The Last 10

• No. 44 — Kevin McClelland
• No. 43 — Kelly Buchberger
• No. 42 — Bill Guerin
• No. 41 — Mattias Ekholm
• No. 40 — Mike Krushelnyski
• No. 39 — Todd Marchant
• No. 38 — Darnell Nurse
• No. 37 — Petr Klima
• No. 36 — Joe Murphy
• No. 35 — Dwayne Roloson