For Erik Haula, the offer was too good to pass up.
Looking to land on a club with its sights set for another deep playoff run, the Bruins offered him such a chance when they extended a contract his way back on the first day of free agency in late July.
Beyond the winning pedigree that veteran stalwarts such as Patrice Bergeron have cultivated in Boston for years, Boston pitched Haula on the chance to play up and down the lineup — especially at his preferred spot down the middle.
“They said that there's an opportunity at center to come in and play,” Haula said Monday of the appeal of playing for Boston. “Obviously it's a good team. When there's possibly an opportunity and a good team — it's very intriguing. I saw it as a good fit. Things obviously end up working out.”
Indeed, Haula could have seen himself serving as an effective Swiss Army Knife in Boston’s lineup.
But handed the keys to a high-octane second line with two jet engines to his left and right in Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak? Yeah, one can dream.
But such a scenario has morphed into reality for Haula. And even though the 30-year-old forward may not have been Boston’s first option as the man in the middle of a scoring second line, it’s tough to argue with the results.
For all of the concerning trends that Bruce Cassidy could have dissected in wake of Boston’s disheartening overtime loss to the Kings on Monday night, the offensive capabilities of his second line was not one of them.
And it hasn’t been for quite some time.
During the 12:40 of 5v5 ice time that the Hall-Haula-Pastrnak line logged on Monday against L.A., the Bruins held a 9-3 edge in scoring chances, tops among any of Boston’s forward trios.
And even though they weren’t rewarded on the scoresheet, this unlikely assortment of forward talent has been finding twine early and often since Cassidy first bumped Pastrnak to the second line and swapped Charlie Coyle for Haula down the middle.
In total, the Bruins have now scored 14 5v5 goals during this second line’s 266:38 of 5v5 ice time together — giving Boston a consistent 1-2 punch behind its reassembled top unit of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.
Even though Haula’s natural inclination to play with pace coincides with how bot Hall and Pastrnak want to operate in the offensive zone, Cassidy has also been impressed with Haula’s ability to defer in the proper moments. For as easy as it might seem to hand over the biscuit when you’ve got a puck-dominant playmaker in Hall and a proven sniper in Pastrnak, it’s a lot tougher in practice than it is on paper.
“You got two high-end guys that are hitting it off. So first of all, he's not in the way, muddling it up,” Cassidy said of Haula. “Because that can happen sometimes in a guy demanding pucks in certain areas. So he hasn't done that. He's been really good about accepting — those guys are going to make plays, so I'm going to get open. … So that's the offensive piece of it, or through the neutral-zone rush, I think he's worked hard on his face-offs, so we can use him on an o-zone draw.
Because we'd like to run plays off draws. … And I think it's just him being responsible. If those guys are kind of wheeling one night, to make sure he's the high forward and getting back. So it's not just trading chances all night. So he's been good at accepting that part as well.”
At this moment, the combination of Hall, Haula and Pastrnak is working — and doing its part to help Boston pile on points at a steady clip.
But is it enough to consistently land punches against stout defenses in the slog that is the postseason?
"Yeah, I mean, I guess until you have a better option to consider, right,” Cassidy said when asked if Haula had done enough to entrench himself at 2C down the stretch. “We've had other guys up there. This seems to work the best for the team. He's embraced it, done a nice job away from the puck.
“Nice job in the circle complimenting those guys on the rush. Finished a few more plays then maybe at the start of the year — pucks are finding him. He's going to the dirty areas — all the things you need to do that you'd want a player to do no matter who he's playing with, but he seems to relish that. So we'll leave him there for now.”
If the Bruins are in the market for a center ahead of March 21, there could be plenty of "better options" up for consideration. Be it Tomas Hertl, Claude Giroux, Andrew Copp or others, Boston has multiple avenues it can take if it feels like it needs to strengthen its lineup down the middle.
And with the uncertainty regarding Bergeron’s status moving forward, the rationale behind acquiring a younger top-six talent like Hertl and inking him to a long-term deal has remained as sound as it was when Boston’s captain first expressed ambiguity about the future back in early September.
But there are other areas of the roster that might need a facelift ahead of March 21. Instead of diverting most of their moveable assets into a player like Hertl or J.T. Miller, the B’s could instead bolster their blue line with a significant piece, or upgrade on the wing in case Boston moves forward with the months-long plan of shipping Jake DeBrusk out of town.
You could make the case that Boston desperately needs an upgrade in any of those three spots (top-six center, top-six wing and on the blue line). But one thing’s for certain — be it cap constraints or the number of assets that the Bruins are comfortable parting with — the B’s don’t have the means to acquire EVERYTHING on their wish list.
You could make marginal upgrades along with reeling in that one big fish, but the Bruins aren’t coming out of the deadline with, say, a Hertl AND Jakob Chychrun, for example.
Ultimately, Don Sweeney and the Bruins are going to have to choose which flaw stands out above the rest on this roster and buff it out.
In some respects, Haula’s strong play on the second line serves as a bit of a double-edged sword.
This extended stretch of tangible production does offer some reassurance for Boston that this second line could remain afloat if Sweeney doesn’t bring in another pivot and focuses on deadline upgrades elsewhere. Or it could just be masking what stands as a long-term concern for Boston if Bergeron does indeed hang up his skates this summer.
It's a good problem to have if you're the Bruins. But a problem nonetheless.
And it's one that, if not addressed appropriately, could hamper this club far beyond whatever fortunes may fall their way in 2022.
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick.