Boston Bruins: Defending Loui Eriksson On The Bruins
By Philip Craig
I’m going to say something that seemingly no one in Boston wants to talk about. Loui Eriksson is a fine hockey player.
Since arriving in New England in the summer of 2013, Eriksson has been viewed by many pundits and fans as a failure as the key piece in that now infamous July 4th blockbuster deal that brought him here. Eriksson has been labelled by many as soft, with average at best speed who never quite fit the mold of a prototypical Bruins type player.
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During his brief tenure with the Boston Bruins, the now 30-year old has suffered two concussions and has mainly been used by Claude Julien in a bottom-six role while taking his regular shift. Just as Eriksson appeared to be settling into Claude Julien’s system in his first season with the Bruins a blind-sided hit from then-Sabres henchman Jon Scott derailed that momentum. Eriksson finished the year with 10 goals and 37 points and never caught enough traction to convince fans in Boston he still possessed the abilities which were to accompany him from Dallas. He’s even been referred to as a spare part.
His 4.25 million dollar salary cap hit hasn’t endeared him to some people either who know the Bruins are still relatively close to the salary cap ceiling. Both Eriksson’s game and personality are rather unassuming however and it’s easy to miss all of the subtle ways in which he contributes to any success the Bruins have had and will have moving forward.
Here’s the truth, some people in Boston are never going to like Loui Eriksson no matter what he does because his last name isn’t Seguin.
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Yes, the Bruins lost the Tyler Seguin deal, however I believe when looked at as a total package Eriksson is still a valuable asset for the Bruins. When speaking of Eriksson, his former Dallas teammate Brad Richards stated “everything he does is underrated”. Richards elaborated by saying “He’s faster than you think, he shoots it better than you think, he’s smarter than you think, he goes to a lot of harder areas than you think”.
Current teammate Brad Marchand agrees with Richard’s assessment of Eriksson’s skill set. “Loui’s not a guy that’s going to go in and kill a guy in the corner, but his stick is second to none. He’s phenomenal with his stick. He picks off pucks great”. Marchand lamented Eriksson’s ability to read plays and create turnovers which in his opinion resulted in more opportunities for the Bruins. Eriksson used his second to none stick to score 10 points in 8 games at this years World Championships in the Czech Republic, highlighted by his hat trick against Latvia.
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Consider this, Eriksson played in 81 games during the 2014-15 season in which he tallied 22 goals and finished second in team scoring. Yes he received power play time, however scoring 22 times during a season in which he was regularly stuck playing bottom six minutes is extremely impressive. If given the opportunity to play with someone of let’s say Patrice Bergeron‘s caliber, which is where he should have been in the first place, Eriksson could easily see that goal total rise this season to north of 25. A Bergeron, Eriksson and Brad Marchand combination would be a force in the offensive zone. Each member of this trio is fantastic along the boards creating additional scoring chances and zone time. The ultimate result would be wearing down the opposing defensemen over the course of a 60 minute game. Additionally, if things fall into place for the Bruins this season, a seven game series.
In addressing the perception that Eriksson doesn’t possess the toughness that Bruins fans have become accustom to, I could not disagree more with this assessment. Like Brad Richards alluded to, if you really pay attention to what Eriksson does on the ice, you routinely notice him digging out pucks and storming the front of the net which is something that most of last year’s roster was sorely missing. In short, he never stopped grinding even when many of his peers chose to do so when things got difficult and it was apparent the Bruins weren’t a lock for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Bruins fans are guilty sometimes of evaluating a players toughness based solely on the number of hits and penalty minutes he accumulates and Eriksson is a prime example of this. Milan Lucic, and his 6 million dollar salary, was the teams poster boy for toughness for years and looked disinterested at times last year. Lucic also scored four less goals than Eriksson, by the way. Boston fans should be able to make room for Eriksson’s game and personality much in the same way as they did for guys like P.J. Axelsson and Jean Ratelle. Obviously by no means am I comparing Eriksson’s career to Ratelle’s output of 491 goals and 1267 points, however in terms of finesse and fluidity on the ice I think there’s a match there.
Listen, the Bruins are in a transitional phase of sorts and if they can find a deal that improves the club that involves Eriksson fine. Before doing so however Don Sweeney would be wise to take into consideration all of the small contributions that this player, this better than average player, makes to his hockey club.
To review, Loui Eriksson is not a superstar. He’s doesn’t possess the scoring prowess of Steven Stamkos, nor is he an offensive dynamo like John Tavares or Patrick Kane. What he does offer however is incredible versatility. He can be counted on to kill penalties, score goals, take power play minutes and is still one of the best defensive forwards in all three zones. This type of versatility can be a rare find in today’s NHL and caution should be taken not to simply throw it away as nothing more than a spare part.
Boston, Loui Eriksson deserves better.
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