Hall Feeling Confident Entering First Full Season with B's

BOSTON - For the first time in several years, Taylor Hall is entering training camp with some security.
After signing a four-year deal with the Bruins over the summer, the winger is set to embark on his first full season with the Black & Gold while feeling quite comfortable with his surroundings.

"It's been great to come to Boston 10 days before camp, move into a place that I know I'm gonna be in for a while…just to set up a home base," Hall said following Friday's captain's practice at Warrior Ice Arena. "It's not something you're gonna see on the scoresheet the first five games of the year, but just mentally it makes things a lot easier for an athlete when he's more settled and comfortable and can just worry about playing."
Hall has also been embraced by his Bruins teammates, particularly the leadership group, which the Toronto native credits with creating a welcoming and accepting environment for everyone who enters the dressing room.
"There's so many great guys on this team," said Hall. "The leadership group really pushes the pace, really drives the bus on what it's like to be a Bruin and how you've got to act around the room. It's an inviting culture, a culture where you've got to work hard and be a good person.
"You learn what you value, what kind of situation you want to be in, what kind of team you want to play on and ultimately how you can keep growing as a player and a person. I feel like Boston's a great place for me to do that."

Hall fit in seamlessly on the ice upon his arrival from Buffalo at the trade deadline, finding immediate chemistry with David Krejci and Craig Smith on Boston's second line en route to collecting 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 16 games. While Hall and Smith are likely to start the 2021-22 campaign back together, they will be without Krejci, who departed for his native Czech Republic over the summer.
"It doesn't really change my preparation for the year," Hall said of having to adjust to a new center, whether it be Charlie Coyle or someone else this season. "My job is to come in and play as well as I can. Whatever line I'm slotted in, hopefully I can drive that line like I have in the past. Whoever the counterman is, I imagine I'll play with Smitty on the right side. I think that we can work with anyone.
"In signing here, I never had a guarantee that Krejci was gonna be back. I just wanted to play for this team and help this team win a Stanley Cup hopefully at the end of the day. Whatever I have to do to contribute to that is what I'll do. I'm sure Smitty and whoever we're playing with feels the same."
Hall said that in addition to developing an on-ice rapport with Krejci, the two also became close away from the rink, though he did not push for any information about the longtime Bruin's decision while he was negotiating his own free-agent deal.
"He's a guy that I learned a lot from even in the 20-30 games I played with him last year," said Hall. "He [left] for the right reasons. As a person, you support him, as a friend. I had no idea what he was gonna do and I didn't even really want to ask him about it or tell him what I was gonna do. I wanted him to come back for the right reasons if that's what he wanted to do.
"He's probably having a blast playing back home. I have no idea what it's like to move away to a different continent at 16-17 and not really ever come back and play there. I'm sure he's having a blast.
"I'm not sure if we'll ever see him back here again. I know there's a lot of speculation, but honestly, I think everyone in our room wishes him all the best."

Building Excitement

Brad Marchand made his captain's practice debut on Friday and he couldn't help but sense - despite a bevy of new faces and some significant departures - an aura of excitement around the rink as the Bruins gear up for what they expect to be yet another competitive campaign.
"This is a little bit different than where we've been in the past," said Marchand. "We always have turnover…every year, it's part of the business. Guys come and go. But to have some of the guys leave out of our core group that we've had here for a long time it's a bit of a different feeling.
"But there's a lot of excitement around our team. We know we're very deep and we have a great opportunity this year…I definitely think we improved. We got deeper all the way through our lineup. We've got a lot of guys that are excited to be part of this group.
"That's the biggest thing. When you have a team of guys that want to be here, that want to win, that want to take a shot, give it their all, character guys, you set yourself up for success."
Marchand also touched on a number of other topics during his session with the media.
On being around the rink this summer and mentoring some of the club's younger players: "It takes a lot of tinkering with your training and your eating and your habits and your work ethic. The quicker you learn it, the better position you're gonna put yourself in and the better position your team is gonna be in. We want these young guys to learn it as fast as possible. The best way is to see the older guys. Also, for me, I love every year seeing the kids that are coming in. At the end of the day, I'm gonna be pushed out by somebody. The only way I can stay ahead of that is to see who's coming in and what they're doing, where they're at, and how much harder I need to work."
On the retirement of long-time friend and teammate Kevan Miller: "It's very disappointing. He's the kind of player that could've played for a long time if those injuries didn't happen…he's a phenomenal teammate all the way around, on the ice, off the ice. He turned himself into a really good player. He worked extremely hard at this game to be a good player. Watching him go through what he did last year and the pain that he was putting himself through, not being able to practice every day and still putting in the performance that he did on the ice, it was impressive to watch. He had a great career."

Bulking Up

It had been a while since Ryan Mougenel ran into Jack Studnicka around the rink. But when the P-Bruins coach spotted the young forward recently in the halls at Warrior Ice Arena, he had to do a bit of a double take.
"I was shocked," Mougenel said.
The Providence bench boss saw a noticeable uptick in muscle and bulk over the course of the offseason, which Studnicka - who is expected to challenge for a spot on the Opening Night roster - spent most of working out at Warrior Ice Arena with Marchand and some of the Bruins' other veterans.
"I've spent a lot of time with Jack. I'm a big fan of Jack the person," said Mougenel. "The one thing about Jack is he's a hockey rat, which I love. He wants to get better. Just staying in town and making that commitment to getting bigger and getting stronger. For him, it's visible.
"He's definitely put the work in of taking the message of getting bigger and stronger. Will it translate to his game? I'm sure it will. Jack is one of those players that's knocking on the door. We forget how young - he's still on his entry-level deal. He's a special player.
"The one thing that comes out of it is he did what we wanted him to do and get bigger and stronger. Now it's up to Jack. He's gonna get some opportunity here."