Just how good has Erik Haula been for the Bruins?
The nine-year NHL veteran has been one of the team's top scorers as of late.
To be exact, Erik Haula has been the team's fourth leading scorer since the calendar flipped to 2022. Of course, skating alongside elite snipers like David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall has helped his production tremendously.
However, it wasn't always easy for Haula.
After a slow start to the campaign during which he picked up one goal and two helpers in 17 games, Haula was healthy scratched by Bruce Cassidy before the Bruins took on the Vancouver Canucks at the end of November.
"When he sat out in November, he was up front," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy in a recently published article. "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 is a man of his word.
Since the calendar turned to 2022, the Finnish forward has played 37 regular season games with the Bruins and racked up 27 points along the way. He's now pushed his season totals to 32 points (9G-23A) and a +10 ratio in 62 outings.
"I think he's tried to really put an emphasis on moving his feet and being better and play to his strengths - 200-foot game and all the little things required to play center ice in our system, close quicker in the D-zone, activate at the right time, support from underneath instead of leaving the zone early," noticed Cassidy.
"But he recognized he needed to be better and he has. Credit to him. We've needed it...let's face it, it's made our team a lot better with that line going."
At the time of this writing, Haula is currently riding a three-game point streak in which he's scored once and added six assists. The centerman doesn't skate on the penalty kill and sees minimum power play time on the Bruins second unit, which means that he plays an average of nearly 15 minutes a game.
To get the kind of production he has, in such limited ice time, is another proof of good Haula has been of late. Add to that the fact that he's been winning 51% of his faceoffs this season and you've got yourself a key element down the middle!
Erik Haula has definitely been a more than capable replacement for David Krejci on the B's second unit.
