Adam Hall
Age: 33
Depth Chart: Fourth line center
Contract Status: $600,000 per year through 2014
2013 Frequent Linemates: Ruslan Fedotenko (19.7% of total 2013 ice time across all teams), Jay Rosehill (18.0%)
2013 Stats (full-season, including non-Flyers games)
| GP | TOI/GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 37 | 10:32 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Corsi On | Corsi Rel | Corsi Rel QoC | OZ Start % | PDO |
| -19.3 | -14.0 | 0.105 | 16.1 | 1016 |
The bad from 2013
Adam Hall got waived about 67 times last season by multiple NHL clubs, and generally speaking when you get waived a bunch of times it’s because teams don’t believe you’re an NHL player. He doesn’t offer much offensively and can find himself buried in his own end on occasion.
The good from 2013
Hall also got claimed on waivers about 67 times last season, which means that some teams out there thought at times that he was an NHL player. He’s definitely a capable defensive center, and his coaches all seem to think so, as evidenced by his almost-incomprehensible zone start percentage from last season. He can also win face offs, which is nice, and can step in on the penalty kill if needed.
What should we expect this season?
With Hall, you pretty much know what you’re getting. He basically personifies the “low-risk, medium-reward” type of player, if that’s a type of player that actually exists. Most of his seasons look pretty similar to the way it did last year — high percentages of defensive zone starts, faceoff wins, and a few minutes per game of penalty time. He’s got a clearly well-defined role, and it’s one he’s decent at.
The only real question about Hall is how much the team actually wants to use him on the penalty kill. As mentioned, that’s typically something he does and does fairly well, but the Flyers have plenty of options on the PK, and just about all of them — Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Max Talbot, and, of course, Claude Giroux — have a level of aggressiveness and willingness to take the puck the other way on the PK that the team clearly likes. Due respect to Hall, but he strikes me as a bit more conservative a forward than the other options. I’m guessing he’ll get some time while down a man due to his faceoff ability, but it’s not a given.
Best case…
Hall anchors a solid fourth line, wins a ton of faceoffs both at evens and on the penalty kill, and does OK in possession despite a large number of defensive zone starts.
Worst case…
Too many defensive zone starts overwhelms him and he doesn’t look good at all, and he and Max Talbot and Zac Rinaldo form a completely uninspiring fourth line. Or some rookie beats him to a forward spot and he ends up getting waived again like he did so many times last year.
Bottom line
Hall isn’t a flashy guy by any stretch of the imagination and he’s not going to score much at all, but if you’re looking for a fourth line that’s going to play tough and do a respectable job in its own end of the ice, Hall can help them do exactly that. He can hopefully provide a big bump to the team’s face off numbers (a weakness of the Flyers for a while now) and be another one of many good two-way forwards on the team.
