The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Erik Haula from the Vegas Golden Knights, but with a grueling injury to recover from, what are his expectations for the upcoming season?
Erik Haula was drafted in the 7th round, at 182nd overall, by the Minnesota Wild in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Haula was then selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft from Minnesota.
Through Haula’s six seasons in the National Hockey League, he has never been able to finish with all 82 games under his belt. On November 6th, 2018, Haula was stretchered off after a hit from (Hurricanes legend) Patrick Marleau, with his knee buckling, he had a shortened season and missed the entire 2019-20 season.
Haula was acquired in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, in exchange for Nicolas Roy and a conditional 5th round pick, in a late night trade on June 26th. The Golden Knights wanted to clear cap space, with Haula’s cap hit at $2,750,000, and did not want to take a risk on Haula’s recovery.
Golden Knights GM George McPhee with an injury update on Erik Haula#VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/LnrwiwQK3d
— Vince Sapienza (@VinceSapienza) January 31, 2019
Haula is still only 28 years of age, who will be rejoining his former teammate Nino Niederreiter, as they were on the Minnesota Wild before. In his rookie season, he registered 15 points in 26 games. In his first season with Vegas for the 2017-18 season, he potted 55 points in 76 games, scoring a special 29 goals.
With his experience in Minnesota and Vegas, Haula has a solid resume of being a center, winning the majority of his faceoffs ever since the 2015-16 season. His two-way play style has allowed him to stay positive in his plus-minuses for four times out of his six seasons.
In all six of his seasons, the Wild and Golden Knights made the playoffs, even the one he wasn’t able to participate in for the 2019-2020 season. With that combination of good luck and good contributions to his teams, he’ll be a warm addition to the scene in Raleigh.
Whether Haula is a top-six forward or a bottom-six forward, he is a great piece of depth the Carolina Hurricanes will appreciate. He has been there and done that, whether that be his double-overtime goal against the Los Angeles Kings on Jonathan Quick or leading Vegas to the Stanley Cup Finals.
https://twitter.com/sports8/status/985048666359689216
Haula’s potential in Carolina is high, where hard work is awarded and ice time is earned. Under Rod Brind’Amour, Haula could even find himself shining over Jordan Staal and becoming the second-line center, behind Sebastian Aho. That could be Haula’s ideal spot if he’s on fire, as he would likely have Niederreiter as a linemate.
Hot take? Erik Haula could probably be expected to get 22 goals and more than 50 points for the 2019-2020 season with the Carolina Hurricanes. With a decent season while on his last season on his contract, he could very well be awarded a nice deal from Don Waddell.
With an improved Hurricanes forward corps, rejoining an old teammate, and playing under a top-level coach, Haula will likely exceed expectations. Erik Haula will want nothing less than showing the Vegas Golden Knights organization that they should not have traded him.
Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: Will Erik Haula break the top-six forwards for the Carolina Hurricanes?