Erik Haula continues to prove doubters wrong as man in middle of Bruins’ second line

Erik Haula needed a reset.

Well, at least his bench boss thought so.

After a lackluster showing against the Rangers back on Nov. 26, in which the veteran forward was knocked for two goals against in a little over 11 minutes of ice time, Bruce Cassidy banished Haula to the ninth floor for Boston’s next game against Canucks.  

As expected, Haula was far from thrilled with such a designation. But Cassidy’s rationale was sound, especially when glancing at Haula’s baseline production (or lack thereof). 

When Boston inked Haula to a two-year, $4.75 million contract back in July, the club envisioned him as a productive, two-way cog that could give Boston’s middle-six unit a shot in the arm. But the early returns were far from encouraging. 

By the time Cassidy benched Haula in late November, the pivot had only tallied one goal and three total points over 17 total games. 

"When he sat out in November, he was up front," Cassidy said. "He didn't think he was playing his best hockey. Did he want to sit out? No. But he said, 'Listen, when I go back in, I get it, I'll be better.'"

Haula has made good on his word, to say the least.

When Cassidy opted to put his forward corps in a blender coming out of the COVID/holiday break, it was easy to identify the validity in a number of those switch-ups. As potent as the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line has been for years, bumping down Pastrnak to the second line would grant another top-six unit with one of the top snipers in the game.

And even though Charlie Coyle’s offseason knee surgery clearly helped the pivot regain his trademark puck-possession prowess, the Weymouth native’s production on this roster would likely be maximized as a matchup nightmare down on the third line.

But for this depth chart retooling to be successful, a lot of responsibility was going to have to fall on Haula — the stopgap 2C — to keep two jet engines in Pastrnak and Taylor Hall humming along.

The first test run was encouraging, with Haula racking up five points (two goals, three assists) in his first six games as Boston’s new second-line center.

Still, there was a fair amount of skepticism about the ceiling of this B’s roster and its standing as a Stanley Cup contender if your next pivot behind a franchise star in Patrice Bergeron is a seasoned journeyman in Haula. 

That doubt (also admittedly fostered by yours truly) continued despite Haula defying that narrative by continuing to etch his name into the stat sheet with regularity. But with the trade deadline now come and gone (and potential B’s targets such as Tomas Hertl staying put), it’s clear that the Bruins are prepared to enter yet another playoff push with Haula locked into that top-six spot.

And since trades were finally nixed at 3 p.m. last Monday, Haula has only continued to dispel the notion that this team can’t thrive with him in David Krejci’s old spot as a playmaking maestro on the second line.

In the three games since the trade deadline, Haula has piled up seven points (one goal, six assists), and is now just three helpers shy of his previous career-high of 26 — achieved during his career-best campaign with Vegas during its miracle Cup run in 2017-18. 

In some respects, Haula’s impressive scoring surge (now up to 27 points in his last 37 games), shouldn’t be tossed aside as just a flash-in-the-pan development. During that first season with the Golden Knights, Haula thrived in a 2C spot on a Golden Knights roster full of “misfits”, scoring 29 goals and posting a career-high 55 points.

A knee injury that limited Haula to just 15 games the following season out in the desert clearly hampered him in the following years. But Haula’s pace and playmaking ability has always been there, especially when slotted next to players that he can help elevate on the ice.

He might have thrived with James Neal and David Perron out in Vegas, but going from that duo of reliable forwards to Hall and Pastrnak is like swapping out a Volvo for a Maserati.

"I've been in the same exact situation before in my career with Vegas," Haula said. “And so, it was important to me to take that spot, take that role, be at your best. And most importantly, it's nice to know that Taylor and David like to play with me, and that builds confidence as well. I've played with those guys now for a while and I feel good there. I want to be at my best for those guys and for the team. It's going to be important."

So far, in the 344:22 of 5v5 ice time that the Hall-Haula-Pastrnak line has logged, the Bruins have been landing plenty of punches, outscoring opponents, 19-11, during that extended sample size. 

For opposing clubs, the M.O. when it comes to stymying the Bruins — especially in the postseason — has often revolved around throwing your stingiest defensive unit and hard-nosed forecheckers at the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line and cutting the head off the snake of Boston’s offensive capabilities.

That task becomes a bit more daunting when the Hall-Haula-Pastrnak line is supplementing offense with regularity. 

With Haula’s wheels, he can serve as a natural complement to both Hall and Pastrnak’s game when they’ve got plenty of real estate in front of them. But Haula’s ability to also defer and serve as more of a defensive safety blanket as Pastrnak and Hall work their magic in transition and in the offensive zone has allowed this line to maximize its scoring capabilities.  

“The rush game is always going to come naturally to us. D-zone, not so much,” Hall said. “But when we’re solid in our end and we get pucks back, then the game is ours … (Haula has) really taken off the last three games especially. Overall, I think he’s been a great influence. As a centerman with players like Pasta and I, you’re not babysitting. But you’re taking care of things. You’re the safety valve a lot of times. He’s been great at that.”

For Cassidy, that second line’s rush tally against the Islanders on Saturday was a clear example of how explosive this trio can be. But it was their other goal, generated by Hall and Pastrnak pressuring Sebastian Aho behind New York's net, that drew the most praise from their coach. 

“Two goals. Two completely different ways, which, as a coach, pleases me,” Cassidy said. “I think they’ve been more of a line-rush line. So the goal Haula scores, you expect those guys to make those plays. Taylor makes a good play in the neutral zone. Always good between the blues with the puck. Pasta is a threat to shoot, threads the needle.

“But the cycle goal, to me, is encouraging. Because that’s playoff hockey a little bit. Teams tighten up a little bit. Don’t give you those line rushes. They were able to win a puck battle, support it well, get it to the net, score on a second chance when the goalie’s down.”

So far, it doesn’t look like that second line is slowing down anytime soon — especially now with Pastrnak has regained his scoring touch (29 goals scored in last 37 games) and Hall has benefited from having a finisher in place for his high-danger feeds (35 points in last 39 games). 

A second line featuring Haula entrenched down the middle might have been far down the list of viable predictions entering the 2021-22 Bruins season.

But it’s tough to argue with the results at this point. 

“I’ve played with those guys now for a while and I feel good there,” Haula said. “I want to be at my best for those guys and for the team. It’s got to be important. You’re going to need everybody if you want to get to where you want to be at the end of the year. I said before now, it’s time to build towards something bigger. We’ve got like five-and-a-half weeks here to get ready, and then the games that really matter start so that’s when you want to be your best, so trying to build towards that.”

Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick.