Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy says Taylor Hall is being ''hard on himself'' after slow start

The fit for Taylor Hall in Boston has been fairly seamless following his trade from the Buffalo Sabres last spring, leading to the crafty winger signing a 4-year, $24M contract with the Bruins this offseason.

Hall had came in to a favorable situation in Boston last season, slotting in comfortably as the team's second line winger, alongside David Krejci, behind the perfection line in a bit more of a sheltered role.

The 29-year-old, who turns 30 on Sunday, racked up 14 points in his first 16 games as a Bruin, but managed just 5 points in 11 postseason games and has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season as well, scoring just 3 goals and 7 points through the team's first 12 games.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sportsnet to discuss Hall's tenure with the team, and the main message that he wished to convey appeared to be that it's still all just a work in progress. Also, the team seems to have a lot of faith in the Calgary native.

«He's a good person, and he's trying to work hard and be a Bruin," said Cassidy. "And I think with [left wing Brad Marchand] around, it was the perfect scenario for him. He slides in right behind a world-class player, can have some competition with a world-class player; he can get back to being a world-class player. So I think that's been the biggest help for Taylor with us is having a guy like March — watching him every day in practice, how he's grown his game, how hard he works. Because Taylor loves to work; he's on the ice a lot.

«I think he's hard on himself. That's one area we're trying to pick. It's not the end of the world if it's a bad period or something goes wrong. This is how we play here. Just keep pushing, keep pushing, keep the puck out of our net. Help the team win, however you can.

«He's now our net-front power-play guy. He hasn't done a lot of that; he's been more of an elbow guy. But to be on that first unit, that was what's available. So, he's changed his game a little in that regard to suit the team."

Generally speaking, Hall was often looked at as "the guy" in several of the markets that he has played in over the course of his career, dating back to his years in Edmonton, but especially during his time in New Jersey, where he earned a Hart Trophy for his stellar offensive play when he scored 93 points in 76 games in 2017-18.

Cassidy has done his best to try to alleviate any pressure that Hall may feel in Boston by telling the speedy winger that the expectations from the team are that Hall just plays his game and to try not to take on too much. Just be a good teammate and contribute by playing sound two-way hockey and supporting your linemates.

«He doesn't have to be the face of the franchise," Cassidy said. "We've talked about that. Just be a good solid player. I think that's how his game has been. He's developing chemistry with Charlie Coyle now. They're still a work in progress. But I like what he's done for us. He's made us a harder team to play against and should only get better.»

The Bruins are off to a pretty underwhelming 7-5-0 start this season, but there's still plenty of time to turn it all around. As we've come to learn, you can't count the Bruins out.

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