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Erik Haula Traded To Carolina Hurricanes For Nicolas Roy

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On June 26, 2019

In Breaking News

UPDATE: The Golden Knights have confirmed this trade with the inclusion of a 2021 5th Round Conditional pick also coming to Vegas in the deal.

According to Jesse Granger with The Athletic, the Golden Knights offseason cap compliance trade bonanza is officially underway.

Nicolas Roy is a 22-year-old forward who was drafted in the 4th round of the 2015 Draft. He has played the previous two full seasons with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL scoring 11 and 17 goals in 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively.

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

He really burst onto the scene in the Calder Cup Playoff run which eventually ended with Roy’s Checkers defeating the Golden Knights affiliate the Chicago Wolves. Roy scored six goals and tallied nine assists in 16 playoff games.

Roy is a big forward standing 6’4″ tall and weighing 207 pounds.

How Often Are Golden Knights Forwards On The Ice For Goals Against

By

On May 29, 2019

In Stats

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Following season one, the Golden Knights front office made the rash decision to completely blow up their second line. That meant letting both David Perron and James Neal walk out the door, while shifting Erik Haula to the wing (for a few games while everyone was healthy).

The reasoning behind this from George McPhee was defensive inefficiency. McPhee claimed they were “dead last for second lines in the league” in goals against per 60.

The line of Perron, Haula, and Neal allowed 3.03 goals per 60 minutes of time on ice when playing together. It was the highest on the team by half a goal. This year, 3.03 would have actually been just fine for the Golden Knights. (All stats are at even strength)

LineTOIGAGA/60
71/81/19840:43402.85
26/67/61156:4972.67
26/67/89226:52174.50
21/67/89197:4392.73
21/92/40118:3484.05
21/73/8971:0600.00
41/28/75363:58101.65

To compare, here’s the same table from last season.

LineTOIGAGA/60
71/81/19722:34241.99
56/57/18554:37283.03
21/89/13261:10112.53
41/92/28152:1251.97

The most alarming number on the chart is the first line’s number. It went up by nearly a full goal per 60 minutes and it was only 0.18 away from the line McPhee decided was so bad defensively that he had to destroy it.

The dominant line of Stastny, Stone, and Pacioretty wasn’t all that much better either. You are probably thinking, “yeah, but they scored way more.” Nope. With all three on the ice together, they allowed seven while scoring nine.

Look at the “fourth” line though. They got even better this year going with Reaves and Carrier together. Also, the line of Eakin, Pirri, and Tuch never conceded in over 70 minutes of time on ice together.

However, these numbers can be a bit misleading at times as not all goals are scored with full lines on the ice. So, let’s break it down by individual forward. Remember, these are even strength numbers only.

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Center Or Winger? Erik Haula’s Position Determines VGK’s Future Roster

By

On May 10, 2019

In Personnel

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Coming into the 2018-19 season the Golden Knights appeared to be overloaded at the center position. With William Karlsson centering the top line, Stastny on the second, and Cody Eakin, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Erik Haula all options for the final two lines, Gerard Gallant was not short on choices. When the dust settled, Haula wound up being the odd-man out being pushed to the wing to play with Stastny and Max Pacioretty.

However, Gallant never had a full roster of players to work as Alex Tuch was missing for the first eight games, and by the time he returned, Stastny had gone out with a major injury. So, we don’t know exactly what may have happened had the Golden Knights been fully healthy. All indications through training camp, preseason, and the beginning of year indicated the plan was to use Haula as a winger, but a quick rash of injuries forced Haula back into the center until he was eventually lost for the season in early November.

As we head into 2019-20, there’s a possibility of some change in regards to the center position. Bellemare is an unrestricted free agent, former #6 overall pick Cody Glass could potentially fight for a roster spot in camp, and Haula still has to prove he’s fully healed from his brutal knee injury.

Aside from center though, the Golden Knights have much more depth on the wings now than they did heading into Year 2. With the additions of Mark Stone and Nikita Gusev, the Golden Knights now have nine legitimate top-six quality forwards. But, depending on Erik Haula’s position, they may only have two centers of those nine (Karlsson and Stastny).

On locker cleanout day, we asked Haula about returning to center. The words that came out of his mouth were not exactly telling, but the way they were delivered certainly made it seem as though he views himself as a center.

That’s… yeah that’s something that I need to talk about, but yeah that’s my… Possibly. I don’t know. I don’t know yet exactly, so just focus on getting to 100 (percent) then figure that out. -Haula

It’s an important decision for the Golden Knights as their lines would look drastically different with Haula as the 3rd center or as part of a group of seven stellar wings.

Haula as Center
Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stastny-Stone
Gusev-Haula-Tuch
Carrier/Nosek-Eakin-Reaves/Carpenter

Haula as Wing
Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stastny-Stone
Haula/Gusev-Eakin-Tuch
Haula/Gusev-Nosek/Carpenter/Glass-Reaves/Carrier

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Locker Room Clean-Out Day Highlights

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On April 25, 2019

In Team Ops

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

In the final media availability of the season nearly every Golden Knights player spoke to the media. We also had extended press conferences with The Creator, George McPhee, and Gerard Gallant.

Of course, there will probably be 50 stories on this site based off many of the comments on this day, but we wanted to share some of the highlights from the day.

(If you would like to listen to every second of the nearly 2 hours and 15 minutes of locker room interviews that we participated in, go here or to our podcast feed.)

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Erik Haula Had Surgery In November, Not ACL, Still No Timetable For Return

By

On December 15, 2018

In News

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Erik Haula sustained a nasty looking injury on November 6th when he got his skate caught in the boards causing his knee to buckle under him. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher and has been described as “month-to-month.”

When originally asked about surgery, Gerard Gallant said he did not know, but now via a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, George McPhee has confirmed Haula did indeed undergo a surgery on his right knee.

He did have surgery. It’s a unique injury. It wasn’t an ACL, as some people reported. It’s not an ACL. It’s just an atypical injury for hockey. -George McPhee to LVRJ

The report McPhee is referring to was an article published by VGKLadies.com which was published 10 days after the incident. McPhee told the Review-Journal that Haula’s surgery took place a couple weeks after the injury.

The timetable for Haula’s return remains unclear as the team is saying the injury and surgery are abnormal and thus the recovery time is hard to predict.

I know it’s not going to be for the next two months for sure, but after that I don’t know. -McPhee to LVRJ

Neither Gallant nor McPhee would rule Haula out for the season, which means they have a reasonable expectation that he could return this season.

The hope, of course, is that Haula would be able to rejoin the team down the stretch run and into the playoffs. If the timing works out, it might almost serve as a trade deadline acquisition and may even dissuade McPhee from making a move at that time.

McPhee On Injuries: “We Aren’t Deep Enough Yet To Not Have Everybody In”

By

On November 14, 2018

In Team Ops

Gerard Gallant confirmed this morning Haula is considered “month-to-month.” (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Injuries are a major part of hockey. Every team goes through them at various times and for various stretches of the season. For the Golden Knights, it’s come early and it’s come in the form of high-end forwards.

Alex Tuch missed the first eight games of the year and Max Pacioretty missed four games at the end of October. Both Pacioretty and Tuch have returned to the lineup, but the two guys they’ve played with on the Vegas second line haven’t been as fortunate. Paul Stastny went out in Game 3 and isn’t expected to return until late December at the earliest, and Erik Haula appears to be out for at least the balance of the calendar year.

Then there’s the suspension which has kept Nate Schmidt out for the first 20 games of the season. All in all, the Golden Knights have yet to play a game with anything resembling a full lineup, and the GM is frustrated.

I’d like to get healthy, for one game. just to see what we are. We just haven’t been. You know we rebuilt our second line and I think they’ve played two and half games together. Stastny’s been out most of the year, Pacioretty was out, Haula’s out, Tuch’s been out. We aren’t deep enough yet to not have everybody in. -George McPhee on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto

All in all, they’ve missed 39 games due to injury and 18 going on 20 due to suspension.

Nate Schmidt – 18 missed (100%)
Paul Stastny – 15 missed (83%)
Alex Tuch – 8 missed (44.%)
Deryk Engelland – 5 missed (28%)
Max Pacioretty – 4 missed (22%)
Erik Haula – 3 missed (17%)
Cody Eakin – 4 missed (22%)
Ryan Carpenter – 1 missed (6%)

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“It’s The Results On The Ice That Matter” To Determine 2nd Line Winger

By

On September 29, 2018

In Personnel

It appears to be Haula’s gig to lose, but it’s not necessarily up to him to keep it. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

It’s been a question since the moment Paul Stastny signed and it only ramped up when Max Pacioretty was acquired via trade. Will be it Alex Tuch, Erik Haula, or someone else playing as the second line right winger?

We expected the preseason to help reveal the answer to the question, but to this point, it hasn’t. Heading into last night’s game, both Haula and Tuch played with Pacioretty and Stastny once. Haula got his second shot last night.

To be honest I couldn’t really tell. Like I said it was a messy game, I don’t think anybody played really well. The execution wasn’t good for our team. It’s probably a lot of what I expected after two days in Montana so I didn’t take a lot out of it to be honest with you. -Gerard Gallant

Tuch is expected to get the final chance Sunday in the last preseason game and certainly can grab hold of it heading into Opening Night.

It’s the results on the ice that matter. It’s not what I think or what they think, it’s the results on the ice that matter. The Karlsson line, we put it together and I didn’t have to touch it because they were good. That makes it easy for a coach and players enjoy that so they like to know, coming to the rink, who they’re playing with. They decide it when they play well. -Gallant

Gallant admitted he doesn’t see anyone other than Haula or Tuch starting the season on the second line in the preseason, which means it’s going to be one or the other on October 4th. 

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Training Camp Day 1 Quotes

By

On September 14, 2018

In Personnel

New guys are fitting in quickly. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

A team that plays a high paced game like we do I think it’s important to do a lot of skating and to do a lot of up-tempo drills so that when it comes to games you are kind of used to that. -Paul Stastny

It’s hard to see any positive in losing the Final, but after a few weeks or months you start to understand what you did right and what you did wrong and make sure you don’t do it again, so there is always something you can take from any negative situation. -Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

(Having a child) is still the best accomplishment we’ve ever done. He’s so cute, it’s impossible to be that cute. He has a hockey stick, he doesn’t know what it is, but he has one. -Bellemare

We had the meeting to go over our systems and it was very very similar to what we did in Montreal. I was able to sit in that meeting and kind of know what to expect. Then I went out on the ice and was able to not think on the first day because I’m so used to our breakouts and our system when we go back for pucks. It’s a system I’ve had a lot of success with and I look to pick up where I left off with it. -Max Pacioretty

It’s important to make sure everyone knows that just because there’s a lot of hype around here it doesn’t mean anything. It starts with what we did in the summer, it starts with what we do today and constantly building as a team on and off the ice to repeat that success from last year and take that next step. -Stastny

First and foremost their unbelievable guys (Stastny and Pacioretty). I’ve been talking to them and I sat next to them at the team dinner and we were cracking jokes and they are just great guys. They’ve been around the block for a while and they’re really experienced and it’ll be fun to be on the same team as them this year and I’m going to try to learn as much as I can from them too. -Alex Tuch

I still think we have some doubters that we won’t do it again, that it was almost like a lucky Cup run. That’s the mentality that we have going in that we still have a lot to prove and we still want to be that elite team that’s making a Cup run and we are all in, all of us are. -Tuch

We have some new guys, we have some different situations than last year in a way but I think every individual, just make sure you stay healthy, make sure you put the work in. Hopefully everyone did put the work in during the Summer, that’s the expectation when we left here. -Erik Haula

Just individually try to get better, and having a little internal competition is good. Just keep pushing each other and that ultimately makes all of us better. -Haula

It’s a little bit different (than last year), we’re so comfortable with each other, we’re a really tight group, but I don’t think the prove it mentality is gone and I think that’s really good. We’re still building towards something and we want to be a really good team for a long time. -Haula

Gallant Weighs In On The Haula Playing Center Or Wing

By

On September 13, 2018

In Personnel

Hard to believe it makes sense to switch positions on a player who scored 29 goals a year ago. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

The moment Paul Stastny signed with the Golden Knights, a center controversy sparked. Stastny will almost certainly play center on the second line and with the addition of Max Pacioretty, he’ll be on his left wing. That leaves Erik Haula or Alex Tuch as the other wing. Haula had a career year playing center with David Perron and James Neal last season. He’s also made multiple comments during this offseason that he sees himself as a center.

Jack Adams winner Gerard Gallant gave his thoughts on the situation today.

Hauls can play both wing and center so I don’t see any issue with that. I’ve been reading a little about Hauls being pushed down to the third line, that’s not fair. Hauls scored 29 goals last year. When you look at the makeup of our team, I mean obviously you would say the Karlsson line will stay together, and there’s a good chance that’s going to stay together, and after that guys are going to figure things out. We’ll go to camp and figure out who’s the best fit with each line and what’s gonna work. Erik Haula is a hell of a player and had a hell of year for us last year. We’ll see where he’s going to fit. I’m not worried about it one bit at all. If Hauls is playing 2nd line center or 2nd line right wing or playing 3rd line it’s not an issue. Tuchy is a good player, he’s a young player, he played great on the right side last year on the 2nd line and played great on the left wing on the 3rd line. So there’s no issue there. Guys come to camp, work hard, and see what happens and hopefully nobody is injured and we’ll put our lines together and get ready for the game. It doesn’t concern me, good players can play with everybody. I’m mean I’m sure Hauls is looking at it saying, where do I fit, but it’s not an issue for me, he’ll be fine, he’ll get plenty of ice time. -Gallant

The one portion that sticks out most is “that’s not fair.” That could mean a lot of different things but the most likely is that Gallant believes it’s only fair to give Haula the first shot to play with Stastny and Pacioretty.

Camp opens tomorrow with the first preseason game being Sunday. It’s unlikely many of the established players play in that game, but every time Haula hits the ice, our eyes will be peeled on what position he’s in.

Splitting Up The Second Line

By

On August 28, 2018

In Stats

Last week on the SinBin.vegas podcast, the Golden Knights second line combination scenarios were a big focus. As it currently stands, it appears the Golden Knights have seven forwards that can fill top the six roles. Of course, messing with the top line of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith is foolish, so that leaves Erik Haula, Paul Stastny, Alex Tuch and Tomas Tatar to fill three spots.

10 more goals from Tuch changes the entire outlook of the changed VGK made in the offseason. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Unless, as we discussed, Jack Adams winner Gerard Gallant chooses a more balanced attack by splitting the four into pairs of two rather than a full line and a leftover. That would leave an open spot on both the second and third lines. Possibly, the distribution of points would create more offense throughout the entire lineup while not sacrificing the offensive talents of one of these four by sticking them on a defensive-minded line.

Let’s put it to the test statistically. To do so, we’ll start by comparing possible combinations of 2nd lines using three of the four available players and compare it to that of the line of David Perron, James Neal, and Haula.

The Perron, Neal, and Haula line produced 70 goals, 95 assists, and 165 points while posting a combined 2.8 defensive point shares.

We used last year’s stats to come up with combined line totals for each of the four potential lines. Each line is named by which player is missing, so “w/o Haula” means a line of Tuch, Tatar, and Stastny.

LineGoalsAssistsPointsDPS
w/o Haula51731244
w/o Tatar60851344.4
w/o Tuch65771313.9
w/o Stastny64621153.3

Before you go scrolling back and forth trying to figure out the difference between each line and that of Perron, Neal, and Haula, we did the math for you.

LineGoalsAssistsPointsDPS
w/o Haula-19-22-411.2
w/o Tatar-10-10-311.6
w/o Tuch-5-18-341.1
w/o Stastny-6-33-500.5

Unsurprisingly, the numbers come up way short offensively. Defensively, however, any of the four options would be better. The biggest concern though is the play of the leftover player. Could Tuch, Haula, Tatar, or Stastny thrive on a line with players like Cody Eakin, Ryan Carpenter, Daniel Carr, or Tomas Hyka? That’s yet to be seen, but it’s also why the idea of splitting the four high-end forwards came up.

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VGK at FLA (Game 4)
VGK +100
FLA -120
O/U 6 (U -115)

VGK vs FLA (Series Price)
VGK -250
FLA +205

See the complete history of VGK Odds here.

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