Taylor Hall is a magnet for high draft picks. It doesn’t matter whether he’s with the Edmonton Oilers, who selected him first overall in the 2010 draft, or the New Jersey Devils, who got Hall in a one-for-one trade in exchange for Adam Larsson in 2016. The teams Hall has played for, in the nine years since he was drafted, have gotten five first-overall picks.
On Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils jumped from third to first overall in the 2019 draft–just like Taylor Hall predicted.
They talk about Gretzky’s 92 goals or Sittler’s 10 pts in one game as records that may never be broken. But winning 5 draft lotteries in your first 9 years in the league? In 2 different draft lottery eras, no less. That is a record that will stand forever.
— Taylor Hall (@hallsy09) April 10, 2019
He’s the focal point for odds-defying good luck.
1st round selections for Taylor Hall teams since after he was drafted:
1st
1st
7th
3rd
1st
4th
1st
17th
1st— Evan Sporer (@ev_sporer) April 10, 2019
Understandably in 2017, Hall added “NHL lottery ball specialist” to his resume.
Officially adding "NHL lottery ball specialist" to my hockey resume.
— Taylor Hall (@hallsy09) April 30, 2017
In 2019, he tweeted something about poker that we don’t quite understand yet but which we nonetheless respect. (That’s the safest way to behave around potential witchcraft and wizardry.)
This has been some kind of heater folks. This is like when you’ve hit the blackjack tables and made 10x the money you came with. For one final bet, you toss on half your winnings and hope for the best. Either way, you’ve gotten lucky and came out ahead. Here goes https://t.co/sbrRmx770V
— Taylor Hall (@hallsy09) April 9, 2019
Congratulations to the New Jersey Devils for the Larsson trade, which brought them Taylor Hall in 2016, Nico Hischier with the first-overall pick in 2017, and, presumably, Jack Hughes in 2019.
Honestly though, very excited to welcome our future #1 overall pick to Jersey! Great start to the summer for the Devils.
— Taylor Hall (@hallsy09) April 10, 2019
Headline photo: Harry How/Getty Images North America
