Blackhawks could not have handled Taylor Hall healthy scratch any worse

It's looking like the 2024-25 season is going to be another long one for Chicago Blackhawks fans. At 6-11-1, the Blackhawks are not only sitting in last place in the Central Division, but they have the lowest point total in the NHL. It's early, but they haven't given much reason to believe that they'll climb much higher as the season progresses.

As annoying as it is for Blackhawks fans to have to deal with another season of the team being virtually out of playoff contention by Thanksgiving, a subpar season was expected. What makes this season frustrating in particular, though, is that a couple of things Blackhawks fans wanted to see have not transpired.

First of all, reigning Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season, putting together 13 points in 18 games. The point total isn't horrendous, but Bedard has scored just three goals all season long. There's still a ton of time for the 19-year-old to get going, but his start has been disappointing following a 22-goal and 61-point rookie season.

Second, Blackhawks fans thought they were getting a key top-six forward back in Taylor Hall, a two-time All-Star and former Hart Trophy winner. Hall missed all but 10 games last season after tearing his ACL, but was deemed healthy and ready to go on Opening Night. Unfortunately, he has not been nearly as impactful as anyone could've imagined.

He had just two goals and four assists, totaling six points in the first 17 games of the season - far from what NHL fans had become accustomed to with the 33-year-old. Those early-season struggles led to Chicago's head coach Luke Richardson scratching him in Saturday's game against the Vancouver Canucks - a contest in which the Blackhawks would lose 4-1.

On one hand, giving the struggling veteran a bit of a mental reset makes some sense. On another hand, though, it sounds as if the Blackhawks could not have handled scratching Hall much worse.

Taylor Hall admits he was given no warning about healthy scratch

When talking to the media on Monday, Hall revealed just how shocked he was that the Blackhawks opted to scratch him.

"I was surprised. It was unexpected, from the standpoint of I just didn't know I was even close to being in that spot, really," Hall said Monday. "If there were some conversations in the days leading up about my game, or if I was constantly being shown video, that would be one thing. So I was a bit surprised."

The issue isn't the Blackhawks scratching Hall. Even Hall knows he hasn't gotten off to a great start and that being scratched for a game could help him reset both physically and mentally. The issue is that the Blackhawks gave him no warning or reason to believe that a scratch could possibly be coming. They gave him no heads up about his subpar play, and gave him no indication that a scratch was even thought about. That's just a simple lack of respect from Hall's point of view.

How Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson thought it was a good idea to remove Hall, a 15-year veteran with as good of a track record as anyone on the roster, from the lineup without any notice, is beyond me.

Fortunately, it sounds as if the third-year head coach agrees that he should've handled the situation better.

"That could be part of my problem, too. Sometimes you give veterans a little bit more of a grace period," he said in a post-practice interview posted by CHGO Sports. "For me to communicate with him, I need to get to know the player more, to see how they like to handle that. We talked lots during and after, but maybe it needs to be more before [the scratch]."

It sounds as if Hall is going to return to the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks, hoping to never give Richardson a reason to scratch him again. If Richardson does ever feel the need to sit Hall (or any other veteran) for a game, he ought to give him some notice.