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First Shoe Drops in Vegas, Erik Haula Traded to Carolina

June 26, 2019, 10:56 PM ET [25 Comments]
Jeff Paul
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
As we all know, the Golden Knights have cap issues and need to move money off the books and fast. In order to do that, trades are necessary, but that's hard to do when you made a league full of General Managers look silly during the 2017 Expansion Draft.

George McPhee's first trade came on June 26th, the first day of negotiations for Restricted Free Agents. Center Erik Haula, who missed most of last season with an oddly undisclosed knee injury, was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes for Nicolas Roy and a conditional 2021 fifth round draft pick.

Roy finished the 2018-19 season with the Calder Cup Champion Charlotte Checkers (AHL) with 36 points (17g, 19a) in 69 games. This isn't a big return for a player of Haula's caliber and can be viewed strictly as a salary dump.


No more loving embraces with Jonathan Marchessault (81) in Vegas (USA Today Sports)

In his first season with the Golden Knights, Haula potted 29 goals, a respectable number centering the second line, alongside veterans David Perron and James Neal. With this trade, that whole line has been shipped off to different clubs. Perron just won a Stanley Cup in St. Louis and James Neal served as a healthy scratch quite often in Calgary. Haula was looking to return from his knee injury and reestablish himself as a top-six forward.

Haula leaving does not give the Golden Knights much cap relief, as he only has one year left on his current contract at a small cap hit of $2.75 million. More moves will come, but this is a shock as the first shoe to fall. There must be a lot of GMs disappointed that they didn't capitalize on this type of haul....a.

Stay tuned for more updates as we learn more about the deal.
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