In a summer that has been dominated by the Vegas Golden Knights’ struggles with the salary cap, a host of moves and a whole lot of manoeuvring had to be made in order to squeeze under the $81.5 million salary cap ceiling for 2019-20.
And that included flipping Haula to the Carolina Hurricanes for depth center Nicolas Roy and a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. It was a sacrifice that needed to be made in order to make room for franchise center William Karlsson‘s new contract, but it was still a bitter blow to lose someone who had played an instrumental role in the Golden Knights’ stunning and magical run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year.