Penguins working on a trade to add Erik Haula to their roster

​The rumour around the NHL is that the Pens hope to shed salary to make another UFA addition…

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Penguins working on a trade to add Erik Haula to their roster
Zuma Press

The Pittsburgh Penguins might be already able to count on a full roster of 14 forwards on NHL contracts, eight defensemen, and two goalies, but team insider Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now believes general manager Jim Rutherford is looking at signing unrestricted free agent Erik Haula for the upcoming season. 

According to PHN’s sources, not everyone believes the Penguins are done on the NHL free-agent market and could be ready to make other UFA addition in the coming weeks. However, while GM Rutherford might be focused on this potential move, there is no doubt he will need to shed salary in order to take on Haula’s. Number crunching as we speak, most likely... 

Haula has reportedly already rejected below-value offers and would need to right number to join the Penguins. The 29-year-old would be a great addition to the Penguins who are looking for consistency and more production on their bottom-six lines up front. His stats speak for themselves: kast season, he put up 24 points (12g, 12a) in 48 games. In 2018-19, he scored 55 points (29g, 26a) in 76 games with Vegas. And, for most of his career, Haula has been over 53% in the faceoff circle. He could therefore become the Pens’ most prolific third-line center since young Jordan Staal. 

Last season, Haula made $2.75 million and should make at least that much going forward. The Penguins would need to shed salary to take him on as they have about $1.3 million before Zach Aston-Reese is placed on LTIR, which will up their cap space to about $2.3 million.

PHN suggests getting rid of seventh defenseman Juuso Riikola , who is a luxury at $1.15 million this season. We don’t know what Rutherford has in mind, but we know he’s not afraid of making moves to change up his roster…