Blackhawks to activate veteran winger from IR

It has been an eventful first month in Chicago for winger Taylor Hall as shoulder issues have limited him to just five games so far.  Now, it appears as if he is cleared to return as Scott Powers of The Athletic relays that Hall will play Saturday, meaning he will be activated off injured reserve.

Hall was injured in the second game of the season and was believed to be out longer term originally.  He then decided that he could play through the pain and returned after missing just one game.  However, his effectiveness was limited and after three games of playing through the injury, Hall was shut down to allow him ample time to recover.

Hall was brought in to be a capable veteran linemate for top rookie Connor Bedard and it’s likely he’ll be with the most recent top pick quite soon if not right away.  He has two assists in the five games he has played so far but if he is indeed fully recovered, he should be able to be more productive.

It’s worth noting that Chicago has a full 23-man roster at the moment so a roster move will need to be made to formally activate Hall off IR.  Speculatively, Isaak Phillips could be the casualty as the defender was just brought up on Sunday and is waiver-exempt, making for an easy solution to create a roster spot.