There was a trade in the National Hockey League on Wednesday between the New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators. The Devils have traded left winger Erik Haula of Pori, Finland to the Predators according to TSN. In return, the Devils are receiving minor league defenseman Jeremy Hanzel of Coquitlam, British Columbia and a fourth round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
Return to the Predators
This will be Haula’s second time with the Nashville Predators. He was with the Predators for one season during the 2020-21 campaign. In 51 games, Haula had nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points. He was a +4 with 14 penalty minutes, three power-play points, two shorthanded points, two game-winning goals, 85 shots on goal, 270 faceoff wins, 23 blocked shots, 63 hits, 18 takeaways, and 17 giveaways.
The first game-winning goal came in a 7-1 Predators win over the Detroit Red Wings on April 8, 2021. Haula scored from centre Rocco Grimaldi of Anaheim, California to put the Predators up 2-1. The second game-winning goal came in a 1-0 Predators overtime win over the Dallas Stars. Haula scored from defenseman Mattias Ekholm of Borlange, Sweden at 3:32 of the extra period.
Who has Haula also played for?
Haula has played with six additional NHL franchises in the past. He played with the Minnesota Wild from 2013 to 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights from 2017 to 2019, the Carolina Hurricanes from 2019 to 2020, the Florida Panthers from 2019 to 2020, the Boston Bruins from 2021 to 2022, and the New Jersey Devils from 2022 to 2025.
Haula in 2024-25
In 69 games, Haula had 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points. He was a -6 with 39 penalty minutes, five power-play points, one game-winning goal, 110 shots on goal, 378 faceoff wins, 35 blocked shots, 101 hits, 14 takeaways, and 44 giveaways.
Haula’s game-winning goal came in a 3-1 Devils win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Haula scored from Canadian defensemen Jonathan Kovacevic of Grimsby, Ontario and Brendan Dillon of New Westminster, British Columbia at 5:39 of the second period.
