Cardiac Cane
Fansided

Carolina Hurricanes: Time to Holla for an Erik Haula Extension?

By Alex Ohari

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Erik Haula #56 of the Carolina Hurricanes turns toward the play during a 2-0 Hurricanes win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on October 15, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Erik Haula #56 of the Carolina Hurricanes turns toward the play during a 2-0 Hurricanes win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on October 15, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 15: Erik Haula #56 of the Carolina Hurricanes turns toward the play during a 2-0 Hurricanes win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on October 15, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 15: Erik Haula #56 of the Carolina Hurricanes turns toward the play during a 2-0 Hurricanes win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on October 15, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

After a red-hot start to his career as a Carolina Hurricane, is it time to start considering an Erik Haula extension?

When the Hurricanes traded prospect Nicolas Roy and a condition draft pick for Erik Haula in the summer, he was viewed as a potential buy-low rebound candidate coming off a *serious season-ending knee injury last season*. The guy they ended up with though, has exceeding everyone’s expectations.

The de-facto leader of the Haula Back Girls fan club (which is a legit thing – female Knights fans had t-shirts and all) Haula has been a god-send for this Hurricanes squad.

Haula has now endeared himself as a fan-favourite to 3 separate fanbases – he was loved in Minnesota, the team who drafted him in 2009. Then when he moved on to Vegas, the fans there clung to him. Recently, I’ve had a multitude of Knights fans in my mentions on Twitter, celebrating Haula’s success and expressing their love for him. Safe to say, he’s a likeable guy.

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1183440695660613634

Through the Hurricanes first 9 games of the season, Haula has scored a whopping 7 goals – which currently has him tied with Auston Matthews for 3rd in the league. Only David Pastrnak and James Neal have outscored Haula. And if you consider his past 29-goal effort in Vegas’ inagural season, Haula doesn’t seem like just a flash in the pan.

So how did the Canes end up with a guy like Haula, acquired for a player in Nicolas Roy who looked like he had a tough path for a future in Carolina? First and foremost, there was a lot of question marks and mystery surrounding Haula dating back to his gruesome knee injury suffered back in November of 2018.

Home/Editorials