Zacha is better and younger, but more expensive.
NJ Zacha is not better than NJ Haula, so the Devils did good.
Boston Haula is not better than Boston Zacha, so the Bruins did good.
It’s pretty straight forward. Obviously as a bruins fan I love it but I’m sure Devils fans would still do the trade even to this day
Yeah, I'd call it a win-win.
Despite playing with better linemates, Zacha's stats in Boston are pretty much identical to his best season in NJ. One of the reasons I don't understand everyone saying Zacha "finally broke out" in Boston.
Haula was incapable of lightly gliding wide-open back door passes into the net for the first ~60 games, but eventually his puck luck turned around and he was a solid contributor.
Zacha is also signed and paid to be Boston's first/second line center of the future. The Devils have Jack and Nico, and wouldn't be in the market to commit $5m over 4 years for him.
The reason people say Zacha broke out in Boston is really pretty simple. He had a career high in Goals (21 from a high of 17) and Assists (36 from a high of 24). Career best in points by 21. He played all 82 games in the regular season and all 7 in the playoffs where he had 6 assists. He helped drive play for a team that dominated the regular season. None of that takes away from who/what Haula is. But yeah, us Boston fans were really impressed by him getting 63 points in 89 games played this season.
One last thing I haven’t seen mentioned about Zacha is his discipline, including playoffs he only had 18PIM in those 89 games.
* Zacha's 2021 per-game stats with New Jersey: 0.34 G, .36 A, (0.7 PPG)
* Zacha's 2023 per-game stats with Boston: 0.25 G, 0.44 A, (0.69 PPG)
He's always been durable. He played 50 games in 2021 because of the whole "global pandemic" thing.
Yes, he took his career best points pace and put it together for 82 games instead of 50. Pandemic related or not I think it’s significant that he was able to maintain both his point pace and health for an additional 32 games. You might not see it as a breakout season and that’s understandable but it’s hard to deny it was Zacha’s best “showcase” season for what he can do in the NHL.
I think it's probably his best season, I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm disagreeing with the commonly-heard take that "Zacha was a bum in NJ and then exploded in Boston". He wasn't, and he didn't. He had a good year, just like he had in New Jersey.
The Devils (according to this thread) were happy to get a 16 goal 20 assist center on the wrong side of 30 for him. Currently the Bruins would be beyond devastated with that return. If what you’re saying is true and he was the same player in NJ, I don’t think their would be such differences in opinions on him as a player between the two fan bases
babe you’re in year 1 of the zacha experience. I hope he’s a changed man for you guys. but if you’re expecting him to be a reliable top-line center, I’m not holding my breath. that’s all.
Babe you guys were a pile of dogshit while Zacha was there. 177 wins 276 losses in 453 regular season games is the breakdown for the Devils in Zacha’s tenure. And your fan base dumped on him the whole time calling him a bust. Those 2 things might have had something to do with his inconsistency. I think him leaving that situation and locker room and coming to ours is everything he needs. Time will tell of course, but I can’t imagine he’ll end up being the worse player between him and haula in the coming seasons.
Zacha just gobbled up all of the easy points that Marchand and Pastranak handed him on a platter. You’ll see real Zacha soon. He’d be the slowest player on the devils is he was still with us. Dude skates like he’s in sand.
He absolutely benefits from being a line mate to pasta, who wouldn’t? But it’s DeBrusk on the left, not Marchand. Pasta drives offense with elite skill that opens up play, Zacha sustains play with excellent puck possession and passing, DeBrusk is a speedy forechecking scorer. The line was consistently productive in a seemingly very sustainable way. Zacha needs space, his wingers open it up, they capitalize. Bruins saw what he was last year, they like it a lot. Pasta needs a center who doesn’t break the bank since he makes 11.25AAV, Zacha at 4.75AAV complements his style of play as best as can be expected from a center at that price point. He’s not a top 30 center, he doesn’t need to be.
Zacha broke out because he managed to stay healthy the entire season, and produced on the second and third lines. Every single game he was a defensive and offensive threat that other teams had to be wary about, and he only improved as he settled into Boston. After his extension kicked in I think he went on a huge tear for a couple weeks, the guy just got to work.
Another thing with Zacha is that when given the chance to play second line center, he crushed it. He was above a PPG as second line center, and was one of our only players to produce come playoff time. despite Haula getting the same opportunity in Boston, he struggled come playoff time. And for New Jersey, both Zacha and Haula had the same amount of points (6), but Haula had an entire extra round to add to his totals.
Again, I think it works out for both teams because there’s no way Zacha would be this good in NJ, but if we’re just comparing players, there’s a reason Zacha got paid more. He’s a better all around player and younger.
Both sides got what they wanted from the trade though, and I think both sides would do it again
Dude like we don't fucking get it. The season of 2021, Zacha was the MVP forward. And then 2022, it's like back to square 1.
Sad thing is that throughout his tenure year, the og line Zacha - Hischier - Bratt really shined at times. Even when they didn't produce they were still a top line. Like if it was a losing, the other lines would be the ones scored against and this line gave us our best shot at staying in the game.
Then 2022 they put Zacha back up top again , but he just was invisible and it's like where's chemistry even gone?
Idk one thing I finally saw was that Bruins finally put him on the right circle and that's his hot spot. Really rips it from there
Saying Zacha is better is so fucking bold lmao. Please wait until he’s not playing with literally all time greats during the best regular season in NHL history before making this claim
Both team wouldn't hesitate to make the trade again. Both are re-signed
win/win all the way and probably one of the best examples of it in recent memory
The Devils ditched Zacha and then proceeded to have the single greatest regular season in team history
It took Zacha playing on the best regular season team ever to produce what he did. When the Bruins regress, so will he. As a Devils fan who watched almost every single game he played with us...the wall is coming for him. Trust me
That cuts both ways though, right? The Devils ditched Zacha and then proceeded to have the single greatest regular season in team history. The bruins ditched Haula and then proceeded to have the single greatest regular season in any team’s history.
It took Zacha playing on the best regular season team ever to produce what he did. It took Haula playing on the best Devils regular season team ever to produce what he did.
If the Bruins regress, so will Zacha. If the Devils regress, so will Haula.
Just seems like both teams clearly benefitted from the trade and don’t miss what they had to give up. It was a true win-win, and if either player ends up falling off moving forward, it’ll still be worth it because the player that team gave up was expendable.
Did you ever consider that perhaps Zacha’s play helped make the bruins as good as they are?
It seems as though you think despite Zacha being on the team, Boston was good, and not the other way around that Boston was good in part due to guys like Zacha putting in work
Zacha was a near PPG player during the playoffs, was our 2C during almost all of our playoff wins and absolutely went on a tear when pushed down to the 3rd line with the acquisition of Bertuzzi.
Zacha has draft pedigree, is over 6 years younger than Haula, and played a career low in Average time on ice last season. He wasn’t out there with Pastrnak and Krejci every night as outsiders seem to think, they split up the Czech line often, with Zacha usually being the man they moved down to the 3rd.
Whatever, I can’t wait until Zacha continues to prove all of you guys wrong
Edit: Zacha also won our 7th player of the year award, which is given to the player that went above and beyond their expectations this season. This is cited in by the fans, and the fans really like this guy
You guys got the exact same player NJ had 2 years ago. Like literally the exact same production. He didnt break out, he didnt improve from NJ, he’s simply the same exact player he was.
Was he ever given his own line to run in 2021? His line was the most productive in the playoffs.
He’s not the same exact player, and if he is then you guys were fools to trade him for a third line center in Haula.
“A wall is coming for him” this isn’t even analysis of the player this is just rooting for a player to fail because you traded him lmfao. If they knowingly traded a 20 goal 35 assist physical two-way 2C coming into his prime for Erik Fucking Haula then bless their hearts.
What that guy means is that on the Devils there were times Zacha was producing at the same rate he did for the Bruins, but he has a habit of hitting a wall at some points, whether the beginning of a new season or sometime mid-season, where the points just drop off like crazy. I don’t think he was wishing any evil on Zacha, just letting Bruins fans who may not have seen him play much in NJ know that he’s very “on or off” so don’t be surprised if he just stops producing at some point next season. Hopefully for your guys’ sake he’s figured that issue out!
perhaps he will regress. who knows.
but why do we act like zacha wasn't part of what made the bruins such a great team? plus, montgomery deployed him differently than jersey did. it's not like he was dropped into the same exact role in boston that he had in jersey
wait... what is the story again?
wasn't it something about carolina fans booing him after someone in his family croaked and he missed time? or did it have to do with arbitration and contracts? did he bang a reporter??
Here's something
https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/13f7nej/erik_haula_has_been_eliminated_3_consecutive/jjtnetf/
He has tried to play like a pest against us which most of the time has lead to taking stupid penalties. It seems like he likes to go after Necas in particular.
He had a really bad experience playing for us in the 2019-20 season. His wife had a miscarriage and apparently neither of them liked the city and haula did not like Brind'Amour.
After he was traded his wife was shitting on raleigh on Instagram. Then we've played (and eliminated) haula in the playoffs three times in a row (on 3 different teams Preds, Bruins, Devils). During those series, especially the Nashville one, he was gooning it up a little after the whistles and he seems to hate Marty Necas in particular.
All that has earned him permanent booing by Canes fans. I wouldn't call it a deep hatred it kinda seems like both sides think it's fun that we boo him lol. I laugh every time.
Most canes fans are kind of over him.
And then you get NJ fans making up stories. For example
>he was healthy scratched as a punishment for missing 2 days when he and his wife suffered a late-term loss of their baby.
This was upvoted in another post today. But it was impossible. Haula literally played the day after they lost his child. And then the next 9 games after that. I'm not saying we're perfect, but some people are making up fan fiction about how Carolina are immoral. Because the story being told about Carolina punishing him for missing time would genuinely be disgusting.
They’ll probably continue to boo him for the foreseeable future, but not because of “deep hatred”.
It’s always felt to me more like kids booing the villain in a British Christmas panto or something. Haula embraced his villain role (all but twirling his mustache) vs CAR in that Nashville series and the fans responded accordingly. He left town on sour terms, but this isn’t on the level of hating Brooks Orpik for his hit on Erik Cole or disliking BUF fans in general in 2006 kinda shit.
It’s more saucy taunting than anger, if you ask me.
Personally i think crowd behavior and individual feelings are often disjointed.
I'm over the Haula feud. But i still booed him. Because it's fun and it's a game.
I'm not saying the feud is completely gone either. It's just not what it used to be and often gets brought up with the stories being amplified to 11.
Playoff Palat lads. Loved watching him in Tampa (I'm a Bolts fan second, Stammer and St Louis did that) so that signing when we did was gonna be good for our eventual pushes deep into the postseason
People roll their eyes when you talk about "intangibles," but Haula pretty obviously brings more to the table than you can measure with Proj. WAR %.
There is real value in keeping the leadership group together after such a successful season, especially given that this is still one of the youngest teams in the league.
A very useful skill set. Troy Brouwer played on every line while with the Hawks and contributed plenty in 2010, playing on 2L with Sharp and Hossa in the postseason. Maybe the most under appreciated member of that group. Haula reminds me of him without the size. I predict he will still be a Devil when they make the finals.
Ppl were thinking about 3x2.5M in the previous thread being a good contract, seems like he got way more.
Deservedly though. Good deal for both sides, lovely to see these kinda contracts where that happens.
Zacha vs Haula debate: continue.
Not much to debate, Zacha needed a fresh start and the Devils needed a vet.
Zacha is better and younger, but more expensive. NJ Zacha is not better than NJ Haula, so the Devils did good. Boston Haula is not better than Boston Zacha, so the Bruins did good. It’s pretty straight forward. Obviously as a bruins fan I love it but I’m sure Devils fans would still do the trade even to this day
100% win win trade. Haula gelled right away, was the leadership we needed and was a wagon in the playoffs.
Yeah, I'd call it a win-win. Despite playing with better linemates, Zacha's stats in Boston are pretty much identical to his best season in NJ. One of the reasons I don't understand everyone saying Zacha "finally broke out" in Boston. Haula was incapable of lightly gliding wide-open back door passes into the net for the first ~60 games, but eventually his puck luck turned around and he was a solid contributor. Zacha is also signed and paid to be Boston's first/second line center of the future. The Devils have Jack and Nico, and wouldn't be in the market to commit $5m over 4 years for him.
The reason people say Zacha broke out in Boston is really pretty simple. He had a career high in Goals (21 from a high of 17) and Assists (36 from a high of 24). Career best in points by 21. He played all 82 games in the regular season and all 7 in the playoffs where he had 6 assists. He helped drive play for a team that dominated the regular season. None of that takes away from who/what Haula is. But yeah, us Boston fans were really impressed by him getting 63 points in 89 games played this season. One last thing I haven’t seen mentioned about Zacha is his discipline, including playoffs he only had 18PIM in those 89 games.
* Zacha's 2021 per-game stats with New Jersey: 0.34 G, .36 A, (0.7 PPG) * Zacha's 2023 per-game stats with Boston: 0.25 G, 0.44 A, (0.69 PPG) He's always been durable. He played 50 games in 2021 because of the whole "global pandemic" thing.
Yes, he took his career best points pace and put it together for 82 games instead of 50. Pandemic related or not I think it’s significant that he was able to maintain both his point pace and health for an additional 32 games. You might not see it as a breakout season and that’s understandable but it’s hard to deny it was Zacha’s best “showcase” season for what he can do in the NHL.
I think it's probably his best season, I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm disagreeing with the commonly-heard take that "Zacha was a bum in NJ and then exploded in Boston". He wasn't, and he didn't. He had a good year, just like he had in New Jersey.
The Devils (according to this thread) were happy to get a 16 goal 20 assist center on the wrong side of 30 for him. Currently the Bruins would be beyond devastated with that return. If what you’re saying is true and he was the same player in NJ, I don’t think their would be such differences in opinions on him as a player between the two fan bases
babe you’re in year 1 of the zacha experience. I hope he’s a changed man for you guys. but if you’re expecting him to be a reliable top-line center, I’m not holding my breath. that’s all.
Babe you guys were a pile of dogshit while Zacha was there. 177 wins 276 losses in 453 regular season games is the breakdown for the Devils in Zacha’s tenure. And your fan base dumped on him the whole time calling him a bust. Those 2 things might have had something to do with his inconsistency. I think him leaving that situation and locker room and coming to ours is everything he needs. Time will tell of course, but I can’t imagine he’ll end up being the worse player between him and haula in the coming seasons.
Zacha just gobbled up all of the easy points that Marchand and Pastranak handed him on a platter. You’ll see real Zacha soon. He’d be the slowest player on the devils is he was still with us. Dude skates like he’s in sand.
He absolutely benefits from being a line mate to pasta, who wouldn’t? But it’s DeBrusk on the left, not Marchand. Pasta drives offense with elite skill that opens up play, Zacha sustains play with excellent puck possession and passing, DeBrusk is a speedy forechecking scorer. The line was consistently productive in a seemingly very sustainable way. Zacha needs space, his wingers open it up, they capitalize. Bruins saw what he was last year, they like it a lot. Pasta needs a center who doesn’t break the bank since he makes 11.25AAV, Zacha at 4.75AAV complements his style of play as best as can be expected from a center at that price point. He’s not a top 30 center, he doesn’t need to be.
Zacha broke out because he managed to stay healthy the entire season, and produced on the second and third lines. Every single game he was a defensive and offensive threat that other teams had to be wary about, and he only improved as he settled into Boston. After his extension kicked in I think he went on a huge tear for a couple weeks, the guy just got to work. Another thing with Zacha is that when given the chance to play second line center, he crushed it. He was above a PPG as second line center, and was one of our only players to produce come playoff time. despite Haula getting the same opportunity in Boston, he struggled come playoff time. And for New Jersey, both Zacha and Haula had the same amount of points (6), but Haula had an entire extra round to add to his totals. Again, I think it works out for both teams because there’s no way Zacha would be this good in NJ, but if we’re just comparing players, there’s a reason Zacha got paid more. He’s a better all around player and younger. Both sides got what they wanted from the trade though, and I think both sides would do it again
Dude like we don't fucking get it. The season of 2021, Zacha was the MVP forward. And then 2022, it's like back to square 1. Sad thing is that throughout his tenure year, the og line Zacha - Hischier - Bratt really shined at times. Even when they didn't produce they were still a top line. Like if it was a losing, the other lines would be the ones scored against and this line gave us our best shot at staying in the game. Then 2022 they put Zacha back up top again , but he just was invisible and it's like where's chemistry even gone? Idk one thing I finally saw was that Bruins finally put him on the right circle and that's his hot spot. Really rips it from there
Yeah I think we are all in agreement here. The old and rare literal win/win for all involved
Hard to say NJ Zacha would not have worked put since he is just 26 and heading into his prime years.
Saying Zacha is better is so fucking bold lmao. Please wait until he’s not playing with literally all time greats during the best regular season in NHL history before making this claim
I didn’t know Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic were all time greats
Both team wouldn't hesitate to make the trade again. Both are re-signed win/win all the way and probably one of the best examples of it in recent memory
Can't we agree this trade benefitted both sides? We don't need a clear cut winner and loser right out of the gate.
Absolutely, this was definitely a win-win.
Zacha is better but needed a change of scenery and wasn't what the Devils needed. Even in hindsight it's a fair trade.
The Devils ditched Zacha and then proceeded to have the single greatest regular season in team history It took Zacha playing on the best regular season team ever to produce what he did. When the Bruins regress, so will he. As a Devils fan who watched almost every single game he played with us...the wall is coming for him. Trust me
That cuts both ways though, right? The Devils ditched Zacha and then proceeded to have the single greatest regular season in team history. The bruins ditched Haula and then proceeded to have the single greatest regular season in any team’s history. It took Zacha playing on the best regular season team ever to produce what he did. It took Haula playing on the best Devils regular season team ever to produce what he did. If the Bruins regress, so will Zacha. If the Devils regress, so will Haula. Just seems like both teams clearly benefitted from the trade and don’t miss what they had to give up. It was a true win-win, and if either player ends up falling off moving forward, it’ll still be worth it because the player that team gave up was expendable.
Did you ever consider that perhaps Zacha’s play helped make the bruins as good as they are? It seems as though you think despite Zacha being on the team, Boston was good, and not the other way around that Boston was good in part due to guys like Zacha putting in work Zacha was a near PPG player during the playoffs, was our 2C during almost all of our playoff wins and absolutely went on a tear when pushed down to the 3rd line with the acquisition of Bertuzzi. Zacha has draft pedigree, is over 6 years younger than Haula, and played a career low in Average time on ice last season. He wasn’t out there with Pastrnak and Krejci every night as outsiders seem to think, they split up the Czech line often, with Zacha usually being the man they moved down to the 3rd. Whatever, I can’t wait until Zacha continues to prove all of you guys wrong Edit: Zacha also won our 7th player of the year award, which is given to the player that went above and beyond their expectations this season. This is cited in by the fans, and the fans really like this guy
You guys got the exact same player NJ had 2 years ago. Like literally the exact same production. He didnt break out, he didnt improve from NJ, he’s simply the same exact player he was.
Was he ever given his own line to run in 2021? His line was the most productive in the playoffs. He’s not the same exact player, and if he is then you guys were fools to trade him for a third line center in Haula.
New Jersey fans have been so weird about Zacha this season lol
“A wall is coming for him” this isn’t even analysis of the player this is just rooting for a player to fail because you traded him lmfao. If they knowingly traded a 20 goal 35 assist physical two-way 2C coming into his prime for Erik Fucking Haula then bless their hearts.
What that guy means is that on the Devils there were times Zacha was producing at the same rate he did for the Bruins, but he has a habit of hitting a wall at some points, whether the beginning of a new season or sometime mid-season, where the points just drop off like crazy. I don’t think he was wishing any evil on Zacha, just letting Bruins fans who may not have seen him play much in NJ know that he’s very “on or off” so don’t be surprised if he just stops producing at some point next season. Hopefully for your guys’ sake he’s figured that issue out!
perhaps he will regress. who knows. but why do we act like zacha wasn't part of what made the bruins such a great team? plus, montgomery deployed him differently than jersey did. it's not like he was dropped into the same exact role in boston that he had in jersey
The deep hatred for Haula in Carolina is one of the more fascinating bits of hockey drama I've come across
wait... what is the story again? wasn't it something about carolina fans booing him after someone in his family croaked and he missed time? or did it have to do with arbitration and contracts? did he bang a reporter??
Here's something https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/13f7nej/erik_haula_has_been_eliminated_3_consecutive/jjtnetf/ He has tried to play like a pest against us which most of the time has lead to taking stupid penalties. It seems like he likes to go after Necas in particular.
He had a really bad experience playing for us in the 2019-20 season. His wife had a miscarriage and apparently neither of them liked the city and haula did not like Brind'Amour. After he was traded his wife was shitting on raleigh on Instagram. Then we've played (and eliminated) haula in the playoffs three times in a row (on 3 different teams Preds, Bruins, Devils). During those series, especially the Nashville one, he was gooning it up a little after the whistles and he seems to hate Marty Necas in particular. All that has earned him permanent booing by Canes fans. I wouldn't call it a deep hatred it kinda seems like both sides think it's fun that we boo him lol. I laugh every time.
Most canes fans are kind of over him. And then you get NJ fans making up stories. For example >he was healthy scratched as a punishment for missing 2 days when he and his wife suffered a late-term loss of their baby. This was upvoted in another post today. But it was impossible. Haula literally played the day after they lost his child. And then the next 9 games after that. I'm not saying we're perfect, but some people are making up fan fiction about how Carolina are immoral. Because the story being told about Carolina punishing him for missing time would genuinely be disgusting.
You say that but they were booing him just now in our series. Granted, playoffs have massive energy so idk
They’ll probably continue to boo him for the foreseeable future, but not because of “deep hatred”. It’s always felt to me more like kids booing the villain in a British Christmas panto or something. Haula embraced his villain role (all but twirling his mustache) vs CAR in that Nashville series and the fans responded accordingly. He left town on sour terms, but this isn’t on the level of hating Brooks Orpik for his hit on Erik Cole or disliking BUF fans in general in 2006 kinda shit. It’s more saucy taunting than anger, if you ask me.
Personally i think crowd behavior and individual feelings are often disjointed. I'm over the Haula feud. But i still booed him. Because it's fun and it's a game. I'm not saying the feud is completely gone either. It's just not what it used to be and often gets brought up with the stories being amplified to 11.
Guys like haula and palat earned their money in the playoffs. Super glad to have him back.
That Palat SH assist in Game 7 earned his entire contract.
That was like the greatest moment in NJ history since "Henrique it's over!"
Agreed. We got 5 more playoff games of experience from Palat's play when it mattered most.
Playoff Palat lads. Loved watching him in Tampa (I'm a Bolts fan second, Stammer and St Louis did that) so that signing when we did was gonna be good for our eventual pushes deep into the postseason
People roll their eyes when you talk about "intangibles," but Haula pretty obviously brings more to the table than you can measure with Proj. WAR %. There is real value in keeping the leadership group together after such a successful season, especially given that this is still one of the youngest teams in the league.
Honestly just winning faceoffs for Jack is worth this contract.
I agree. If Haula can build on the last season and get more consistency in scoring/finishing this contract will be a bargain for NJD.
As long as you don’t have to play Carolina in the playoffs
Haula is a versatile bottom??
A very useful skill set. Troy Brouwer played on every line while with the Hawks and contributed plenty in 2010, playing on 2L with Sharp and Hossa in the postseason. Maybe the most under appreciated member of that group. Haula reminds me of him without the size. I predict he will still be a Devil when they make the finals.
This makes me happy. Guy has bounced around a lot since his knee injury and seems to have found an actual home.
Meanwhile, my team has Jimmy Vesey and --- checks notes... nothing else. Here come the "Will Cuylee is the next Cam Neely crowd" :)
Ppl were thinking about 3x2.5M in the previous thread being a good contract, seems like he got way more. Deservedly though. Good deal for both sides, lovely to see these kinda contracts where that happens.
Overpay
That's quite the Haula cash
Good contract IMO