With a little over a week before the NHL Draft, the Nashville Predators have begun to make some roster adjustments.

On Wednesday, the team announced that they had traded defenseman Jeremy Hanzel and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick to the New Jersey Devils for forward Erik Haula. 

“We are excited to have Erik (Haula) join our team today,” Predators General Manager Barry Trotz said in a statement. “He brings great flexibility to our roster with the ability to play up and down the lineup in a variety of different roles. We are confident that he’ll be able to play alongside our young players, helping to accelerate their development.”

Haula is no stranger to the organization as he spent the 2020-21 season with the Predators. He played 51 games, recording nine goals and 12 assists for a total of 21 points. He played in six playoff games, recording four points.

This past season with the Devils, Haula played in 69 games, recording 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points. He had spent three years in New Jersey, the longest he's been with one team since the 2016-17 season, which was his fourth season with the Minnesota Wild. 

Since then, Haula has been with six different teams. 

The Predators will be taking on the final year of Haula's three-year, $9.45 million contract, which has an annual cap hit of $3.15 million. Heading into the draft and free agency, Nashville has around $14.16 million of cap space to work with. 

Draft-wise, giving up a fourth-round pick, the Predators have the following picks: fifth, 23rd, 26th, 35th (second round), 55th (second round), 67th (third round), 131st (fifth round), 163rd (sixth round) and 182nd (sixth round). 

This is a strong and smart move by the Predators, acquiring a veteran forward for not much. They're not taking a massive cap hit by bringing Haula on and keeping the main roster intact. 

On the other side of the trade, the Devils are taking on the two more years of Hanzel's 3-year, $2.555 million contract with an annual cap hit of $851,667. 

Hanzel did not play a game in his two seasons in the organization. This past season, he played 61 games with the Atlanta Gladiators and four games with the Milwaukee Admirals.