Erik Haula News: Registers assist in Preds debut

Haula notched an assist and added two hits in Thursday's 2-1 season-opening win over the Blue Jackets.

Haula was credited with the lone helper on Michael Bunting's opening goal, thus dubbing Haula with the first assist of the season for Nashville. The 34-year-old center was dealt to the Predators from New Jersey on June 18 after a second consecutive year of negative regression. However, Haula's early involvement on offense is something to monitor going forward if he can get back to the 40-plus point pace he held in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. Haula is best left on waivers for the time being, but he could see matchup-dependent usage in deeper leagues if he can string together some good performances.