Erik Haula Excited For "Good Opportunity" On The Ice, Alongside Childhood Friend Armia in LA

Once the LA Kings were an option, early in unrestricted free agency, Erik Haula knew right away his first call would be to a friend from high school.

Someone who he had known for a long time. A family friend during his childhood. One of those guys who you knew his parents and he knew yours. Someone who was a couple of floors below him during classes growing up, just a couple of years apart by grade. It also turned out to be Haula’s roommate during the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, someone who he formed an effective tandem with on the ice as well.

That person was Kings forward Joel Armia, his now teammate in Los Angeles.

“He was probably my first call when this came to fruition and was an option,” Haula said. “I obviously had a lot of questions, and he was my roommate in the Olympics, so we had a lot of time to talk about things in LA and when I was in Nashville, and vice versa. He’s helped tons, for sure.”

Whether or not Haula and Armia will unite on a line in Los Angeles remains to be seen. The Kings have more options and more unknowns than they’ve had up front in seasons past and how they choose to shape their higher-scoring forwards in the top-six will factor into where guys like Haula and Armia slot in. Creates a lot more excitement during training camp.

As teammates, though, Haula expressed a ton of excitement to be joining Armia in Los Angeles.

With the Kings, the word opportunity seemed to sum up why the fit was so strong. As Anze Kopitar departs the organization after a storied career, there is certainly an opening down the middle. In Haula, the Kings added a forward who can play both center and wing, blending offensive contributions alongside effective penalty killing and a responsible, 200-foot game. Will those traits fit in on the second line or the third line, at center or on the wing? We’ll soon find out. Either way, though, it’s an opportunity that excited Haula when he had his pick of teams this summer.

“Overall, the discussion has been that there’s good opportunity and we’re going to try different things out,” he said of his potential role in Los Angeles. “We have a pretty deep forward group, I would say, so I’m sure they’re going to try different things out and see what works the best. For me personally, it doesn’t really matter. I feel pretty confident that we’re going to make it work.”

Haula gave some of the usual cliches when describing who he is as a player. You know them well.

“Hard Worker”

“200-Foot Player”

“Consistent Veteran Guy”

“Tries To Do Things The Right Way and Play The Right Way”

A lot of players say these things. It’s the “right thing to say”, if you will. The thing is, Haula’s game kind of feels like a skating cliché.

Haula is not an offensive dynamo, but he’s collected at least 35 points in four of his last five seasons played. He’s right around a half-point-per-game in that time. His 200-foot game is emphasized by being one of the NHL’s more effective penalty killers, even if it’s not approaching the Selke conversation. A shorthanded tandem with Armia would certainly seem like a great place to start for a Kings team that was among the worst in the NHL last season in man-down situations.

In researching Haula, it was difficult to determine the strengths and weaknesses in his game through statistics. I think that speaks to his overall game and consistency. This isn’t a player, on paper at least, where you’re going to see a ton of standout traits or deficiencies. I suppose that factors into his role in Los Angeles as well.

It’s easy to see a scenario where Haula plays on a third line with Scott Laughton, with one at center or on the wing. Could see him on that line with Laughton playing elsewhere too. Easy to see him centering the team’s second line during training camp. From his initial interview earlier this week, Haula made it seem as if the plan was for him to play through the middle, but his conversations with management came before the Kings re-signed Laughton. Either way, there are options and that seemed exciting for him.

“I knew that they needed help in the middle, if Kopi was back there or not, I think that from the initial conversations, there was going to be a good role for me either way,” he said. “I was just excited about the group in general. It’s an older group and a lot of depth at forward. They needed a little bit of help at center, so hopefully I can come and fill that void a little bit and help out.”

With regards to his contract, Haula signed a two-year deal, which includes a no-movement clause in the first year.

As he approaches the final stages of his career, having a little bit of that stability in Year 1 was important for him. He’s got a family and as he put it, he’s moved around quite a bit. After breaking into the league with Minnesota, Haula hit a point in his career where he played for six different teams in a five-season span. Part of the job, he understands that, but even to just feel secure for one season was important to him. For the Kings, the two-year deal still gives the team flexibility heading into next year, when they’ve had the opportunity to assess the fit after 12 months.

“I’m definitely tired of jumping around, that’s for sure,” he said. “I mean, eight teams in 14 years, it hasn’t been easy at times and it’s definitely not easy on the family. It’s a blessing to still be able to play in the NHL, a couple more seasons gets me closer to 1000 games and that’s something that’s always been a goal of mine. Just going to try to keep on going as long as I can and I have high standards for myself. Two years sounded perfect and we’ll see where we’re at after that.”

The approach for the Kings this summer turned out to be veteran-heavy. The Kings added older players on shorter-term contracts, which is something that Haula seemed to like and wanted to be a part of.

The NHL is trending younger and the Kings aren’t. No disputing that, in the short term. For a new players coming in, though, seeing players around his age, at similar stages in life, is something that excites him. Will it work on the ice? Remains to be seen. But for a player looking for some stability and cohesion within a locker room, he certainly didn’t mind it.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out, but I think overall, having an older team, I think we’re going to try to be a pretty tight-knit group, we’re going get along great, similar phases of life and and then we have some younger guys too that I’m excited to get to know,” Haula added. “I just think the dynamic is good on paper. Looking forward to getting there, and getting started.”