Player Discussion Erik Haula

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BusQuets

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Jul 16, 2010
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Haula has been surprisingly good. He's not gonna sustain this level as he always drops but he just might make the Finnish World cup team if he keeps this up. :amazed:
 

BagHead

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Dec 23, 2010
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The kid is showing why he was drafted at all, offensive potential. He was a big scorer at Shattuck, then for the Omaha Lancers, and then for the U of M. I think he still has an outside chance at becoming a #2 center, but he'll probably be a low end one, better utilized as a two way #3 C anyway, much like Walz was.

I've said for a while that the kid is shades of Wes Walz (also a big time scorer in junior and minor league hockey), only picked in the 7th round instead of the 3rd. He'll be a decent piece, but I have to agree that he is not a player you build around. He is a very good complimentary player, to support the main stars. Won't be shocked if we lose him to expansion, but it's probably more likely we lose a defenseman.
 

57special

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Talent is often used on these boards as synonym for fancy stickhandling and passing. There is far more to playing hockey than that. I love what Haula brings in as a package. Best bang for the buck on the team. His improvement on the dot is a testament to the work he has put in. This doesn't just "happen".

I've thought Dumba has been pretty bad recently. Not worried, as he is young, and he will always be a high risk/high reward player to a certain extent, but he has been a liablity in the past few games.
 

ijk

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Boy, what a turnaround from a disastrous start to the season for Erik. Here is a statistical breakdown of the season for him to celebrate the fact that he is currently riding a 6 game point streak, which without looking it up, is a career high for him.

1) First 33 games under Yeo: 3+3 6 points +2

Prorated: 6 goals and 15 points in 82 games

2) 14 games under Yeo after that: 2 goals 5 assists 7 points +6

Prorated: 12 goals and 41 points in 82 games

3) First 19 games under Torchetti: 19 gp 7 goals 9 assists 16 points +11

Prorated: 30 goals and 69 points in 82 games




This is awesome for the Wild since he is still under contract for only $1,050,000 the next season after which he becomes a RFA. With 8 games left I presume he will hit 35 points for the season (he has 29 points now). What would his expectations then be for next season? I personally would bet that next season he hits 40 points which would be awesome, but still well below his Torchetti prorated season numbers of 69 points. Anything close to this would be an unreasonable expectation since no Minny player will score 60 points this season and it is hard to see Haula getting more offensive opportunities than Koivu, Parise, Granlund, Vanek, Coyle etc. ... Or could he be slotted higher in the line-up, or even getting PP-time? I don't think that is his bread and butter (his strengths lie elsewhere, but what do I know?). How do you guys feel? Are the expectations of 40 points for next season too high or too low? I am not even sure where he will be slotted, but take a wild (hehe) guess.

Anyway, here's hoping that Minny makes the playoffs as an 8th seed. If Dallas is the 1# seed I could see you guys even advancing to the second round as their goaltending is suspect and they lack playoff experience. The same applies to some degree to the current #2 seed St. Louis.
 
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forthewild

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At this point if Haula keeps advancing his play like he has thus far, he has a good chance to wrangle the #2 center spot away from MiG.

Seriously this kid is getting better every game and its amazing to see him growing.
 

Fremitus Borealis

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Feb 4, 2007
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Part of me wants to stay reserved, thinking "he'll come back down to Earth eventually..." and not get my hopes up. But really, you could say that about basically anybody else on the Wild.

One thing I would say though is it might be unproductive (at present) to saddle him with any expectations of being "THE guy". That's a lot of pressure, and partially explains Granlund never really blossoming. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy Haula's newfound scoring prowess, and hope it never ends :D
 

57special

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I think one unlooked for benefit ofHaula's emergence is that it has kick started Granlund a bit. While he is not getting the points to back it up, Bruce has looked much better to me. He is getting caught less with the puck, and is shooting the puck more. I think he has looked at Haula's game and felt the old competitive juices flowing.

Haula needs to be one of the players out on 3v3. Kind of a no brainer.

We still have one more year of him to see if this is a flash in the pan, or if he's the real deal. If he finishes the year strong he will also become a trade chip of some consequence, or allow the Wild to move Granlund plus a top 4 D for a #1C.

I think we all agree that he isn't a #4C, right?
 

Engebretson

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Nov 4, 2010
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Haula has looked damn good lately and I think a good chunk of that is because he's more comfortable playing for Torch. It's very clear that he's playing a lot more aggressively and confidently out there and I think he's even admitted that it's easier now because he knows exactly what Torch expects of him. If that is true, it kind of raises an interesting question of do we trade Haula in the offseason while his value is arguably at it's highest if we decide to part ways with Torch or do we bank on the possibility that this is the real Haula coming out of his shell?
 

Dr Jan Itor

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Dec 10, 2009
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Haula has looked damn good lately and I think a good chunk of that is because he's more comfortable playing for Torch. It's very clear that he's playing a lot more aggressively and confidently out there and I think he's even admitted that it's easier now because he knows exactly what Torch expects of him. If that is true, it kind of raises an interesting question of do we trade Haula in the offseason while his value is arguably at it's highest if we decide to part ways with Torch or do we bank on the possibility that this is the real Haula coming out of his shell?

It's not an interesting question.
 

Al Lagoon

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Feb 22, 2012
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I know +/- is a stat to be taken with a grain of salt, but I noticed Haula is up to a team leading +19, which is good for 18th in the entire NHL. Next closest on the Wild is Scandella at +10, and Nino at +9.

In this case, +/- does seem to reflect the quality of his overall game at the moment.
 

57special

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I will also say that Nino and Haula make one hell of a duo. Don't know how long it will last, but I'm enjoying it while I can.
 

Minnesota

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I know +/- is a stat to be taken with a grain of salt, but I noticed Haula is up to a team leading +19, which is good for 18th in the entire NHL. Next closest on the Wild is Scandella at +10, and Nino at +9.

In this case, +/- does seem to reflect the quality of his overall game at the moment.

Went looking through the top +/- NHL leaders. Olli Maatta's +28 on the season with only 19 points. :laugh:
 

MNRube

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He's legit. Scored a lot as a Gopher and has a great defensive mind and skillset. I think he is a 45 pt C maybe with good D with the right coach and wingers.
 

GuerinUp

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Aug 1, 2009
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ive always thought hes had the skill to be a 1-2 c in this league. He has the speed and hands to make it happen. I guess we will see what happens over the next year, but at this point id say keep giving him more ice time and see what happens. Its not like hes a liability defensively. Itd be amazing if when koivus contract is over or when he regresses he could step right in. But thats best case scenario.
 

W75

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Oct 22, 2011
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Imagine what would happen if all these players went hot roughly at the same time. Hauls, Coyle, Nino, Zucker, Pominville, Parise, Granlund, Dubnyk, Koivu, Vanek... full potential.

That's when they dominate like we've seen few times. Instead it looks like they're taking turns. One line at a time. And the rest of them are like wandering in Mordor, lifeless hopeless and exhausted.

Although we can always hope that Haula is our chosen hobbit :D
 
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123TripleDoge

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Nov 24, 2014
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I know he's super valuable on the PK, but at some point, I'd like to see his full line on the PP.

Nino - Haula - Poms, then whoever they want for d-men.
 

57special

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I know he's super valuable on the PK, but at some point, I'd like to see his full line on the PP.

Nino - Haula - Poms, then whoever they want for d-men.

I bet they never practice the PP together. That's pretty important. Nino would be great in front of the net, and I would bet Poms would defer less and shoot more with these guys rather than Parise/Koivu.

Still think it's unlikely Haula gets any PP unless there are lot of injuries and/or he shows sustained offense for a longer period of time.
 

Al Lagoon

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Feb 22, 2012
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I think the main problem with the Wild PP is that is is so static, and easy to defend.

If they played 5 on 5 style hockey on the PP, that might bust loose.
 

forthewild

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Aug 17, 2009
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How do you think Yeo is coping given that Vanek is on the bench and Haula is just tearing it up? I bet he had a heart attach when he was Vanek was benched and Haula wasn't.
 

57special

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I wasn't a big Yeo hater...I thought he did a lot of good things...but I didn't respect his lineup choices.

Back to Erik "you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him" Haula.

I've noticed that when he is on the ice in a close game I tend to relax a little bit. I trust him to make the smart choices, for the most part. Speaks well to his all round game.
 
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