Whether you wanted to believe it before this season or not, Loui Eriksson obviously had more to give to this Boston Bruins team. He has shown this year that he can be a core player that is willing and eager to be put in all situations of a hockey game and thrive in every single one of them. He has been playing his best hockey this year and is showing no signs of slowing down. While this is most certainly good news for the Bruins, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
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Loui Eriksson is an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer and the Boston Bruins are not yet in a comfortable enough position to give Eriksson the raise that he will most likely request and deserve. As of right now, Eriksson is making $4 250 000, according to General Fanager, and if his play continues on the pace it is on now, he will be able to obtain far more than that as a free agent.
The question is, would Loui Eriksson be open to taking a pay cut to remain with the Bruins and, if so, how much. If I were to speculate, I would say that Loui Eriksson could get 6 million or more guaranteed if he tested the market next summer. I feel that the Boston Bruins would not sign him for 6 million as there are just too many others contracts that they will need to manage. A 5 million dollar signing would be ideal and I don’t think 5.5 million would be out of the question.
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However, the next problem becomes the longevity of the contract. Loui Eriksson is 30 years old and, if he plans on making 6 million dollars with a team, may not be able to match his performance on the ice with his yearly earnings for much longer. Granted, Loui Eriksson has all the qualities of a player who could remain competitive in old age, like Jaromir Jagr, but anything more than a three year deal at 6 million would be a scary deal for any NHL club to undertake.
As far as the Boston Bruins are concerned, it is important to speculate what life would be like without Loui Eriksson in the lineup. The Bruins have certainly made it clear that they enjoy using Eriksson in all situations, with him being one of the team’s leading forwards for ice time. This is great now because Eriksson is playing well and it is resulting in Bruins wins, but if the Bruins were to let Eriksson go, shouldn’t they be trying out some of their more locked in players on the power play and penalty kill?
Loui Eriksson is one of those special players that cannot be replaced by one, or even two, other players. However, the Bruins have shown this year that they have many capable replacements within their lineup and their system. Matt Beleskey and David Pastrnak would be the most likely to play alongside David Krejci next year, in Eriksson’s absence, with Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Brett Connolly, Ryan Spooner, Jimmy Hayes, Frank Vatrano and possibly even Alex Khokhlachev supplying plenty of additional offensive weapons.
Puck Prose
You never like to let go of a player as well rounded as Loui Eriksson, but unless the Bruins want to completely reshape other aspects of their roster, letting Eriksson walk would be the easiest decision. There has also been speculation that the Bruins could trade Eriksson at his current peak value and get something in return, but I feel that this would only happen if Boston was completely out of the playoff race by March. If the Boston Bruins remain in the playoff hunt, they should not trade Eriksson and instead use him in what could be a very deep playoff run for a team that looks to only be getting better.
As said before, Loui Eriksson chose the worst time to return to his full form of skill and production. In his defense, most players perform at a higher level in their contract year and for good reason. Wherever Loui Eriksson ends up, he will have a nice, hefty, contract that will most likely see him through the rest of his NHL career. At this point, unfortunately, it looks like that contract will not be with the Boston Bruins.
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