The New Jersey Devils have traded winger Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
In largely a surprise move, Nashville will take the stride to become just a bit older – and shore up their center depth in the process. They’ll do it with a familiar name, returning Haula to Tennessee four years after he spent the shortened 2020-21 season with the club. They were one of many clubs he stopped at for a year-or-less as part of a three-year journey across the NHL. That wandering came to an end when Haula was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Devils in exchange for Pavel Zacha in July 2022.
Haula was coming off a great year in the 2021-22 campaign, when he scored 44 points in 78 games. He continued to look sharp in his first year with the Devils, netting 41 points in 80 games while operating down the team’s lineup. His depth scoring was exactly what New Jersey needed behind Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, though Haula fell to just one point in five games of the Devils’ run to the second-round.
His slide in scoring continued through the last two seasons. He scored 16 goals and 35 points in 76 games last season, then dropped to 11 goals and 21 points in 69 games this year. He was hindered by day-to-day injuries in 2023-24, and an ankle sprain earlier this year.
Haula has fallen firmly into the rut of depth scorer late in his career. He was once a hot shooter for the Vegas Golden Knights, and managed a career-season in the club’s inaugural season. Haula scored 29 goals and 55 points that year, but again slid to just nine points in 20 postseason games. Throughout his career, he’s tallied up 153 goals and 337 points in 759 games. He’s also averaged an 11.5 shooting percentage. Nashville has had a knack for adding shooters to their lineup in recent years, and will find another for a cheap price in this move.
On the other side, the 22-year-old Hanzel will make yet another move before even playing in his first NHL game. The Predators previously acquired Hanzel alongside a 2025 third-round pick in the 2024 move that sent Yakov Trenin and Graham Sward to the Colorado Avalanche. Hanzel played in his first pro season in the Predators’ organization this year. Much of it was spent in the ECHL, where he totaled 22 points and a minus-24 through 61 games. Hanzel spent the four seasons prior playing with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, where he carved out a top-pair role and supported a 2023 championship run despite never scoring at-or-above point-per-game pace. He is a stocky, physical defender who is still adjusting in his ability to use size and strength against pro opponents. As those traits come along, Hanzel’s standing in the New Jersey pipeline could improve.
Haula going back to Smashville
Barry Trotz should stick to coaching.
Dubas alone has made him look dumb like 3 times
GM Barry Trotz seems to be following the same path as last summer in picking talent that appears to be on or on the verge of declining. Does Trotz not have managerial assistance & a scouting unit to help analyze potential talent acquisitions that may or may not help or elevate the team?
Probably 80% of fourth round picks never make it to the big leagues. Of those maybe 10% become players of significance. Nashville is looking to make the playoffs this year and it’s a decent pick up for minimal cost. Haula can play wing or centre and is good defensively.
Man only 74% of 1st rounders become nhl players
Josh just mentioned in today’s chat that he saw Haula’s value as a 3rd at best. Hanzel is a fringe AHL/ECHLer.
Just what we were missing, another 30+ vet. :/
I actually liked Haula when he was here previously, but I have no idea what his role will be here now.
It’s fine. Anyone hoping for a traditional rebuild with the roster that age and with those contracts is out to lunch. They were trying to win in July 2024, which is why they signed those guys and committed to their existing core.
They’re hoping last year was the aberration.
Old, And slow is not an aberration, This group won’t get any bigger, Better, Faster, Or younger, And Brunette is brutal behind the bench as well. Once again, Barry should stick to coaching.
Who out of the Avs, Stars, Jets, Wild and Blues are the Preds finishing ahead of next season? Or even the Mammoth for that sake.
You’re not wrong, but none of that matters because that’s not how the team views itself, as evidenced by this move.
They’re that old and that expensive, and they went in that hard last offseason because they expect to be in their championship window right now. They didn’t spend nine figures last July to finish 28th several years in a row. I fully expect them to make more win now moves. They’re not going to abandon their plans after one season when a window consists of several.
And it’s this kind of delusional thinking that has us questioning what Trotz is doing. He’s trying to thread some kind of needle that has no real direction.
But frankly, anything Trotz does will be nullified by his handpicked head coach. The greatest thing the Panthers did was to let Brunette go and bring in Maurice. They never would be where they’re at had they not done that.
St Louis and Minnesota could easily slip. Teams do it every year. I don’t think anyone would’ve picked the rangers to do what they did this year.
At first, I really liked this move from the Nashville perspective. NOT because it’s good, but because it makes it seem like they are going to try to compete next season…which would mean one less team in the tank with the Pens.
BUT, does this make them better, actually? Or just a warm body, salary dump deal that tankers make?
Trotz is acquiring assets for rebuild . Probably get a second for Haula at the deadline and a first for Marchessault
Trots should hire himself as HC and then fire himself as GM.
Trotz and Brunette should swap positions. This will make at least one guy know what he is doing. As it is, none of them does.
And they will remain together, if that’s what makes them both happy.