Erik Haula
Yeah, I went there.
I’m excited to have Erik Haula in Raleigh, make no mistake. Hopefully, he’s 100% and ready to go, as his skillset and versatility could prove vital to the Carolina Hurricanes returning to the playoffs. So, why list him here?
The optimist in me believes that Haula will be healthy and ready to go, can return to his 2017-18 output, and will help the Hurricanes’ dreadful power play. The pessimist that owns most of my cranial real estate wonders how much his injury will affect him moving forward. While he should mesh well with the makeup of this team, what if he doesn’t? What if his recovery slows or leaves nagging remnants that hinder his play?
Okay, that’s a lot of “what-ifs”, I’ll grant you that, but this is summer speculation so let me have my moment. If Haula underperforms and fails to mesh as well as anticipated, even if he looks fair but not great, it could create a ripple effect throughout the lineup. No, Haula wasn’t brought in to be “the guy”, but we’re all hoping he adds solid scoring depth. I believe he will, but the calendar shows August, so we just don’t know.
The real key is that Haula is entering the last year of his contract. If the Hurricanes are struggling to gain ground in the playoff race, he could become an interesting trade target. Teams gearing up for a deep run could show interest, especially since his $2.75 million salary is palatable. The most realistic situation that I can see (albeit from a negative perspective) is inconsistent goaltending holding the Hurricanes back, leading to Haula being sacrificed as a rental.
Okay, I’m going to let the optimist take over again and say Haula fits in nicely, puts up 50+ points, and gets a reasonable new contract.
But, he might not.