Hartford Whalers
Ahead of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s 1987 entry draft, Hull was rated as the ninth best prospect according to the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was selected in the first round, 18th overall, by the Hartford Whalers. [8] He signed his first contract with the Whalers on April 1, 1988. [12] During Hartford's 1988 training camp, Hull failed to impress early on but after being given a second chance by general manager (GM) Emile Francis and head coach Larry Pleau, improved enough to make the team for the 1988–89 season as an extra forward. [13] [14] He sat out the season opener, but made his NHL debut on October 8, going scoreless in a 6–2 loss to the Boston Bruins. [15] [16] Playing on a line with Ray Ferraro, Hull recorded his first NHL goal on October 12, the game winner on Bob Froese in a 4–3 victory over the New York Rangers. He also tallied his first point, an assist on Ferraro's first period goal in the same game. [17] In November, he also saw time on the first line with Ron Francis and Kevin Dineen and third line with Dean Evason. [18] He tallied three points in a 6–4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on January 19, 1989, scoring once and assisting on goals by Ferraro and Dave Tippett. [19] In 60 games in his rookie season, he scored 16 goals and 34 points. [4] Hartford finished fourth in the Adams Division but qualified for the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs and faced the Canadiens in the first round. [20] Hull made his NHL playoff debut on April 5 in game one of the series but was injured and missed the remainder of the playoffs. [21]
At his second training camp in 1989, the Whalers had overstocked themselves on NHL-quality right wingers after acquiring Pat Verbeek and new GM Ed Johnston wanted new coach Rick Ley to experiment with Hull on the left wing. [22] However, he suffered a groin pull that kept him out for most of camp and the beginning of the 1989–90 season. [23] He returned from the injury on October 11 in a game against the Washington Capitals and was placed on the top line alongside Francis and Verbeek, but was re-injured in the first period. [24] He then suffered a charley horse and only returned on October 18 after missing five of the first six games of the season. [25] On October 26, he recorded a three-point game, scoring twice and assisting on another by Paul MacDermid in a 7–3 win over the New Jersey Devils. [26] In early November Hull was injured again, suffering a bruised left shoulder. [27] He returned on November 10 after missing two games, playing on the left wing of Ferraro and Dineen. [28] His play suffered and on November 27, he was assigned to Hartford's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Binghamton Whalers. [29] He was recalled on December 21 and appeared in one game before being sent back to the AHL. [30] In 21 games with Binghamton, he scored seven goals and 17 points. [4] He was recalled again on January 31, 1990, but did not make an appearance until February 10. [31] [32] He missed some time at the beginning of March with a bruised shoulder again. [33] In 38 games with Hartford, he tallied seven goals and 17 points. [4] The Whalers finished fourth in the Adams Division, but seventh in the NHL overall, and faced the first place Bruins in the first round of the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs. [34] [35] Hull was scratched for the first couple of playoff games, but was inserted into the lineup starting in game three of the series. [36] [37] He marked his first NHL playoff point in game four of the series, assisting on Yvon Corriveau's second period goal in a 6–5 loss to the Bruins. [38] Ultimately, the Whalers were eliminated by the Bruins in seven games and Hull recorded the one point in the five games he appeared in. [4] [39]
In addition to Hartford, Hull also played for the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers between 1988 and 2004. He played 831 regular season games in total, scoring 124 goals and 137 assists for 261 points and collecting 156 penalty minutes. He also played 69 playoff games, scoring 9 points and 14 penalty minutes.
