Other things are helping Hall move in the right direction, too. The Devils coaching staff, led by John Hynes, is one people in the game rave about, even if the wider hockey world still holds antiquated assumptions about New Jersey and The Trap. Last summer, Hynes talked to Hall about the need for him — as the squad’s most talented player — to be a “culture driver,” a challenge the player has met head on. To a man, the Devils see Hall as one of the most influential forces in the room thanks to his meticulous preparation and focus. It’s almost disorienting to contemplate the fact Hynes is Hall’s sixth coach in just eight NHL seasons, so imagine the impact of that volatility on Hall, who had to play through it when he was still cutting his teeth in Edmonton. The continuity he’s found on the east coast has added layers to his game. “Defensively, he’s helped out with me a lot,” Hall says of Hynes. “I think there’s a lot of accountability; not just for me, but with our whole group. How you have to play defensively, how you have to back check — really, just everything on that side of the puck. He’s [also] let the offensive guys on this team do their thing. But when it’s time to defend, you have to be there.”

That Hall has embraced that balance — you don’t have to win the Selke, just work to get the puck back and we’re happy to let you freestyle once we have possession — is a credit to Hynes and the staff. “I think that [his] coach and the organization have put him in a really good place to succeed and sort of minimized the deficiencies in his game and really, really accentuated the positives,” says a member of a rival front office.