The New Jersey Devils are not a perfect team. They missed the playoffs last season after coming in with Stanley Cup aspirations. A lot of variables factored into that disappointment.
One area of the ice they are doing okay in, however, is the center position. They have a couple of stars down the middle around whom they have built their team. They also have a few wingers who can produce offense at a high volume, which helps them a lot.
Then they have a player like Erik Haula. This is a guy who could be a winger in the middle six or a third-line center. His versatility makes him a very important player on the team. That is why he comes in at number 14 on this list.
In 2023-24, Haula had 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points in 76 games. If the rest of the team around him managed to have better luck with health, those totals might slightly come up again.
The New Jersey Devils need Erik Haula to play well in all areas of the ice
In addition to some decent offensive output, Haula is excellent in all three zones. He defends very well and is one of the best faceoff men in the NHL.
Special teams are important in the NHL as well. Haula is capable of being a factor in both the power play and penalty kill. He will get time on the second man-advantage unit and he will be one of their most important penalty killers.
Having depth in the NHL is very important and Haula is one of the depth catalysts on this team. He isn’t a star player by any means but he does a lot of the little things in hockey well.
Another thing about Haula is that he brings his game to another level in the playoffs. If the Devils do bounce back and get there in the spring of 2025, you know Haula will have had a great year and will play a big role in the postseason. We've seen him show off the "clutch gene" in the past.
All of these abilities in a depth role make Haula one of the more important forwards on the team. As mentioned before, he isn't an elite scoring winger but he provides what the Devils need in a high-end middle six player.