On the acquisition of Erik Haula

The 31-year-old forward adds versatility, depth scoring, and tenacity to the New Jersey Devils' forward group.

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A late night signing of Ondrej Palat wasn’t the only notable roster move the New Jersey Devils made up front on the opening day of free agency.

They also traded former 6th overall pick Pavel Zacha to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Erik Haula.

Zacha, 25, is coming off a 36 point campaign in which he appeared 70 times. While those outputs don’t scream pricy extension, Zacha has averaged 48 points per 82 over the last two seasons and carries arbitration rights.

Whether or not the Devils could’ve reached an agreement in advance of a potential hearing, Zacha was likely to command well over $3 million per season; certainly more than they’d like to pay for an inefficient point producer destined for a reduced role.

Instead, they elected to cut the cord and move him for a veteran in Haula.

So, what are the Devils getting?

Depth scoring

Haula is capable of replacing a lot of the offense lost with Zacha’s departure. Maybe all of it.

While spending ~half of his time with David Pastrnak helped the cause this past season, Haula’s outputs (44 in 78) were not abnormally high relative to previous years.

From 2019-22, Haula amassed 39 goals and 89 points over 177 games. That’s an average of 18 goals and 41 points per 82 games.

He was fairly efficient in that span, producing 1.81 points per 60 minutes at 5v5. That put him on level terms with Tyler Toffoli, Blake Coleman and Martin Necas; and well ahead of Zacha.

I’m not suggesting the Devils have stumbled into a quality top-6 forward or some sort of offensive specimen. Haula’s not dynamic, he doesn’t create much for his teammates, and he plays a rather barebones game.

He’ll generate plenty of shots around the net, though, and work his ass off to get there. That’s how he scores goals; and at a pretty good clip.

Haula should be able to provide some pop on the third line.

Versatility