The LA Kings have signed forward Erik Haula to a two-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $3,600,000 through the 2027-28 season.
Haula, 35, skated in a career-high 81 games last season for the Nashville Predators, posting 14 goals and 28 points (14-24=38) with 118 hits, 51 blocked shots, 64 penalty minutes (PIM) and averaged 16:40 minutes of time-on-ice per game (TOI/GP). Among Nashville forwards, Haula’s 51 blocked shots and 118 hits ranked third and fourth-most, respectively, while his 16:40 TOI/GP placed fifth. Haula skated in his 800th career NHL game on Jan. 3, 2026, netting two goals to become the 21st different player in league history to score multiple goals in their 800th career contest.
Originally selected in the seventh round (182nd overall) by the Minnesota Wild in the 2009 NHL Draft, Haula joins the Kings as a veteran of 804 career NHL games, collecting 167 goals and 375 points (167-208=375) with 29 power-play goals, nine shorthanded goals, 23 game-winning goals and a cumulative +33 rating over parts of 13 seasons between the Predators (2020-21, 2025-26), New Jersey Devils (2022-25), Boston Bruins (2021-22), Florida Panthers (2019-20), Carolina Hurricanes (2019-20), Vegas Golden Knights (2017-19) and Wild (2013-17).
The 5-11, 190-pound forward’s best NHL season came in the 2017-18 campaign with Vegas where he established career-highs in goals (29), points (55), power-play goals (11), game-winning goals (4), shots (175), TOI/GP (17:22) and power-play TOI/GP (2:23). Haula has added 16 goals and 37 points (16-21=37) in 78 career Stanley Cup Playoff outings, including a personal postseason-best nine points (3-6=9) in 20 games during Vegas’ first Stanely Cup Final appearance in 2018. Haula put up 29 points (14-15=29) in 37 American Hockey League (AHL) games with the Houston Aeros and Iowa Wild before joining the Minnesota Wild full-time.
Prior to his professional debut, Haula played three seasons of collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota (NCAA) from 2010-13 where he picked up 42 goals and 124 points (42-82=124) in 114 games. In his junior year (2012-13), Haula put up a team-best 51 points (16-35=51) in 37 games with a +19 rating and was tied for the fourth-most points among all NCAA skaters. As a result, Haula earned conference Second All-Star Team and All-Academic Team honors. Haula played one season (2009-10) of junior hockey with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL), where he posted 72 points (28-44=28) in 56 games, the fifth-most among all USHL skaters, and was named to the league’s All-Star Game, All-Rookie Team and Second All-Star Team.
Internationally, the Pori, Finland, native represented Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics games where he posed six points (3-3=6) in six games to help lead his team to a bronze medal. Overall, Haula has represented his home country in multiple International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournaments including one Men’s World Championship (2014 – silver), one Men’s World Junior Championship (2010) and two Under-18 Men’s World Championship (2008, 2009 – bronze). Haula also played in the NHL’s 2025 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament and 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
