New Jersey Devils center Erik Haula is having an awful stretch right now. Much of the Devils' bottom-six woes come from Haula's inability to put up any offense. Even with the Devils playing him more often in defensive situations, putting up zero points in the entire month of December is hard to fathom.
Now, it looks like Haula is going to have ample time to consider how to get out of this slump. Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe announced on Sunday that Haula is going to miss some time with an ankle injury.
Sheldon Keefe did say that Erik Haula "will miss some time".
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) January 5, 2025
So, we'll see how that all plays out in terms of a timeline for the #NJDevils forward. https://t.co/m6uXY644Xr
As of now, we have no idea how long Haula will be out. It sounds like the Devils are unsure as they plan to do more tests on his ankle.
Erik Haula is going to miss time with an ankle injury.
Looking back at the Devils' loss to the San Jose Sharks, there is no place to pinpoint his injury, but it might be something that's lingering. Haula has been largely ineffective for a while, so this might be the Devils making a move to give him needed rest. However, it does sound like it's something that was tweaked or worse on Saturday.
Many have been calling for the Devils to make a trade to bolster the bottom six. Now that Haula is going to be out for some time, it might push Tom Fitzgerald to make a move sooner rather than later.
Despite the Devils saying that Haula is going to be "day-to-day," we expect him to go on injured reserve. This would give the Devils a chance to call up Justin Dowling to play on the team without losing a roster position or sending anyone else down.
This is bad news, but there could be a silver lining. Haula getting a forced mental break will allow him to really evaluate his game. It will take him out of the grind, even for just a week or so. We never want to see an injury, but this one might help Haula get in the right shape for the playoffs.