Like many of his Boston Bruins teammates, Taylor Hall was left wanting more out of this season.
But in Hall’s case, it wasn’t just collectively with the Bruins falling well short of their goal of raising a Stanley Cup. It was also individually with Hall feeling he didn’t play up to his capabilities.
Hall said during Tuesday’s exit interview day at Warrior Ice Arena that he felt more like himself in the playoffs as he flashed in the first-round series against the Florida Panthers by scoring five goals and dishing out three assists. But that didn’t take away from how felt about his regular-season performance as he wasn’t exactly encouraged by his play.
The 2010 No. 1 overall pick adapted to a new role in his second full season with the Bruins, playing on the third line for the majority of the campaign while compiling 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points. Hall, who missed a good bit of time in the back half of the regular season due to injury, gave the Bruins tremendous depth, but with a dissatisfied taste in his mouth, he’s looking to be a more impactful player going forward.
“It wasn’t a tremendous season personally, but 65 wins and being a contributor to a team like that is special and something I’ll never forget,” Hall said. “I want to have a better season next year than I did this year. There are some things for me to get better at and come back a better player. It’s hard when you’re 31, but I really do think I have more to learn and more things to get better at.”
Hall has already set his eyes on the areas he wants to make improvements in. An electric skater at times, he would like to add more speed to his game as he enters the latter stages of his career. And Hall wants to become more of a factor on the power play, feeling he can give more to that unit as well.
“I’m going to make some changes to my offseason program,” Hall said. “I want to try to come in next season a little bit lighter. I’m up around 209 and I would love to come play next year around 203, 204. Get a bit lighter. Everyone says this as they get older, but try and get quicker. I want to see if I can prove somehow on the power play. I didn’t think my power play play was all that great this season. So, try and figure out a way to get better at that.”
