Erik Haula’s career has seen its fair share of ups and downs. The former seventh-round selection wasn’t expected to develop into anything special when he came out of the University of Minnesota. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he became the Wild’s de facto shutdown pivot, propelling them past the Colorado Avalanche in the 2014 postseason with a phenomenal performance. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Haula’s 2015-16 campaign was defined by its peaks and valleys.
The popular thing to do is split Haula’s 2015-16 season into two sub-seasons, with the divide being Mike Yeo’s firing on February 13th.