Boston Bruins: Keeping Loui Eriksson
The Boston Bruins are only 14 games into the 2015-16 season, and it’s already been memorable. The B’s have lost center/wing Chris Kelly for the season. They’ve seen several young players score their first NHL goals during their first NHL game, and they’ve seen how dependable Loui Eriksson has been to them.
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Loui Eriksson has had a solid season so far for the 7-6-1 Bruins. Eriksson currently has 12 points (five goals) for the Bruins, placing him third in overall scoring behind David Krejci (17) and Patrice Bergeron (14). The 30-year old Swedish winger is currently leading all Bruins forwards for average time on ice per game, putting up nearly 20 minutes per game (19:56).
This is the last year of Eriksson’s six-year, $25 million dollar contract. The Bruins will have a very tough decision in front of them on how to handle the last big piece of their Tyler Seguin trade. Eriksson, like Kelly has been moved up and down the lines to fill in holes for the Black and Gold. He started out as the right wing of the Bergeron line, and has bounced back and forth on the wings on the Krejci line.
Recently, he’s become an important part of the Bruins power play units. The Bruins are explosive on the man advantage, and four of Eriksson’s five goals have been earned while on the power play. The Swedish sniper averages over three minutes of ice time per game while on the power play (3:15)
“He’s so versatile and smart,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien of Eriksson. “I’m sure he prefers to play one side more than the other. Everybody is like that. But at the same time, I don’t see a big difference in his game. He continues to do the same things. Those are players that are hard to find. Most of the time, you appreciate them more when they’re gone.”
Eriksson is playing for his contract, and so far he’s doing his best to show he’s earned a good one.
Granted, its early in the season. That’s never stopped the Bruins from signing extensions early in the season though. The B’s could(and I mean that as a slim and remote)possibility, not as a chance for rumor mongering) be trying to shop him around for a trade that could find them a defenseman.
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But would trading Eriksson make the B’s better? No. This would be a repeat of the Johnny Boychuk trade. The B’s would get cap space, and the only thing it would give Boston is another pothole to fill, this time in the forwards.
Some fans don’t like Eriksson. Why? He’s not big enough. He’s not physical enough. He’s not Zdeno Chara size, and he just doesn’t fight people. A few Bruins fans have even complained because he’s not Canadian (I’m not making that up folks.).
That’s nuts. If you look at all around versatility in a player, and you then you look at Boston’s roster, most intelligent people would put Eriksson in as the second most versatile player on the team (behind Patrice Bergeron).
After the Bruins figure out their long-term defensemen problem, the very next thing they should try to do is get Loui Eriksson on board for at least the next three seasons.
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