Will The Boston Bruins Revisit Old Trade Options?
Back in February, the Boston Bruins were open to suggestion of trading Dennis Seidenberg and/or Loui Eriksson before the March trade deadline last season. That initial trade suggestion made sense at the time, as the Bruins were struggling with their cap issues, and still had to sign several players back to the roster.
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Presently, Loui Eriksson imposes a $4.25 million dollar cap hit, and Seidenberg’s is an even $4 million. While the Bruins were able to resign both Torey Krug and Reilly Smith (to varying degrees of disappointment among the fan base), the B’s are still nowhere closer to signing 22-year old defensemen Dougie Hamilton. The Bruins cap ceiling is roughly ten million dollars, and there are other players (Ryan Spooner and Brett Connolly) that the B’s are also trying to lock up for October.
Those trade suggestions made sense in February, and they still make sense now. With just a week before the Entry Draft, the B’s are looking to find more cap space. Bringing back one or both of these trade options will help the Bruins save money, and hopefully improve the team down the road.
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Eriksson is signed through the end of this season, and Seidenberg won’t be a free agent until the end of the 2107-18 season. While the 33-year-old Seidenberg has a no-trade clause, the veteran German defenseman has stated in the past he would waive the clause if he felt the Bruins didn’t want him on the team anymore.
Loui Eriksson came over as part of the Tyler Seguin trade, and had a very rough first season in Boston. The two concussions he sustained limited his play, and further aggravated fans who thought the trade was madness in the first place.
Eriksson bounced back last season, finishing second in overall scoring for the B’s with forty-seven points. He was only one of the B’s (with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand) who broke the twenty goal barrier. Still, many fans (and it seems a few people in the front office) consider Eriksson to be a ‘soft Swede’, and wouldn’t object to seeing him moved somewhere else.
Seidenberg never seem to play at one hundred percent after his knee was repaired last season, but there are teams with deeper troubles on the blueline than Boston, and his experience and leadership make him a desirable commodity.