The New Jersey Devils traded constant project Pavel Zacha to the Boston Bruins straight up for journeyman Erik Haula. On paper, it looked like a losing deal for the Devils. Zacha was younger, had a better pedigree, and was a huge bounce-back candidate. Haula has played for Boston, Nashville, Carolina, Florida, and Vegas since 2019. These were two very different players.
Yet, both players had huge impacts on their new team. Zacha was paired with David Pastrnak for most of the season, as he had a historic scoring run. His season earned him a four-year, $19 million deal.