New Jersey Devils Winger Erik Haula Slams Reporter For Constant Criticism Over His Play

Recently, the New Jersey Devils suffered a major loss when it was announced that star forward Jack Hughes would miss the remainder of the season, with many ruling out the Devils in a tough Eastern Conference as a result.

Since Hughes went down, the offense in New Jersey has struggled a fair bit, and as such, a reporter posed this question to veteran Erik Haula: Do you think defense is almost more important with Jack Hughes now out?

Unfortunately, it appears as though the 33-year old wasn't in a mood to answer questions, as he fired back at the reporter with this response.

While it's never good as a reporter to unnecessarily chirp a player in their reports for their play, sometimes it's good to see a player call them out, but with the Devils firmly in the hunt for a Stanley Cup Playoffs position, you'd much prefer to see the players ignoring the outside noise.

However, it's easy to see why Haula has been drawing criticism, as he followed up 14 and 16 goals in his first two seasons with the Devils by scoring just six in 53 games this season, and with a -10 differential, there's no doubt been plenty of questions about his place in the lineup.

Ultimately though, a veteran like Haula now becomes even more important with Hughes and another veteran in Dougie Hamilton out of the lineup, and if they can get some more production out of him, they may have a chance in the post-season after all in 2025.