Boston Bruins: Loui Eriksson Trade Rumor Analysis

The rumor mills have been churning endlessly as the season has gone on, and Bruins’ winger Loui Eriksson has been a recurring figure in various deadline scenarios. His best performance since donning a Bruins jersey coming in a contract year has put GM Don Sweeney in a tough spot. All signs point to Eriksson being moved at or prior to Feb 29^th’s deadline, chances are that Eriksson’s contract requests will be more than Sweeney is interested in giving. This brings up the question, could moving Loui Eriksson fix the Bruins’ woes?

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The gaping hole in the Bruins’ boat has been the blue line, since starting the season short-staffed and things haven’t solidified much. Defensive stalwarts Chara and Seidenberg are showing that they haven’t found the fountain of youth and are on the back 9 of their careers. The rest of the D force is showing time and time again that they really are not ready to be taking on the minutes and responsibilities placed on them. The only bright spot has been Torey Krug, playing a more developed and reliable defensive game, which came as a surprise for many. But Krug isn’t the type of defenseman who can take the reins when Big Z ends his run.

What the Bruins need is a young, but proven defender who is ready to play a big role right now. Chara is signed through the 17-18 season, but expecting the big man to keep shouldering the same workload at ages 38 and 39 is just foolhardy, he’s yet to play at 100% this season, and a rebound going forward isn’t likely. There have been seven names tossed around tentatively regarding any kind of Loui Eriksson deal. Jacob Trouba and Dustin Byfuglien in Winnipeg, Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen in Anaheim, and finally Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin, and Matt Dumba in Minnesota. So who fits the Bruins needs?

While it seems the new focus is on offensive, puck moving blue liners, the Bruins would be best served by a dependable shut down style defender who can provide a physical presence. Of the names thrown around, the players worth pursuing, in order, would be Jacob Trouba from the Jets, followed by the Wild’s Marco Scandella and Matt Dumba. The others don’t provide the style of game that would be able to help rectify the defensive short comings that have plagued the team this season.

Trouba is a 21-year-old defensive defender in his second full season with the Jets. Trouba consistently logs similar minutes to Chara on a weaker squad with a -14 goal differential, but still sports a +5 rating. He plays a heavy game at 6’3” 202 pounds, and he is no stranger to dropping the gloves in defense of a teammate. While he isn’t a prolific point producer, he is a great skater and is able to jump-start rushes with great speed and vision up ice, and he has no quarrels with throwing his powerful shot on net.

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Scandella sports similar stats and physical build to Trouba, but at 25 years old, has seen more NHL experience. Scandella doesn’t skate as quickly as Trouba, so quick bursts coming out of his end are not all that frequent, but he is still a solid option for the Bruins back-end. He has been a plus player the past three seasons for the Wild, including a +8 rating in 23 playoff games over the last two, and a +10 to lead all Wild defenders this season.

Scandella plays a solid, composed, physical game with his 6’3” 211 pound frame working to keep the space in front of goalie Devan Dubnyk clear. Being in a deep defensive pool in Minnesota, Scandella has been playing second pairing minutes, but he’s still averaging over 20 minutes a game and could help lighten some of the stress put on Chara. Scandella is a less flashy option compared to the pedigree and early development of Trouba, but that doesn’t mean the contributions he could make on the blue line aren’t valuable.

The final target worthy of inquiring about is the other Wild rearguard, 21-year-old Matt Dumba. While he’s the same age as Trouba, he’s yet to fully establish himself as an impactful every day NHLer with this being his first full season. Coming in a bit smaller than the other two at 6’0” 193 pounds, Dumba is also the only one of the three to lean more toward the offensive side of the spectrum in his play style. With a heavy slap shot and a quick release, he has the potential to get on the score sheet, but his defensive game needs work at this early point in his career. He currently has a -6 rating, which is a team worst, while playing on the teams third pairing. That being said, he does have the grit and tenacity that could make him an effective defensive presence later down the line. Unfortunately, he’s not currently the plug-n-play answer the Bruins need right now.

So let’s look at the probability of these deals happening.

Winnipeg:

Unfortunately for Bruins fans, the most intriguing option in Trouba, is also the least likely to happen. The Jets are a team who are likely not playoff bound, and rumors have been pointing to them possibly clearing out veterans in Dustin Byfuglien and Captain Andrew Ladd due to cap concerns in the near future. These rumors are due in part to both of them, along with Trouba, being up for new contracts at the end of this season. Winnipeg has nine players up for new contracts after this season, the chance they are able to resign them all is very slim.

With the young core beginning to establish itself for the future, giving up a prospective stud defenseman for a rental winger really makes no sense for them. Even if they were to entertain the idea, Loui Eriksson alone wouldn’t get the deal done.

Minnesota

Minnesota, on the other hand, provides a much more trade friendly environment. The Wild currently sit just outside of the second Wild Card slot with a game in hand, this coming in a season where they rank 24^th in the league in goals for. If the Wild wish to make a splash in the post-season this year, more offensive talent is a must for them at the deadline. Eriksson’s 15 goals and 24 assists this season would place him second in both categories on the anemic Wild offense, and he could also provide a spark to their 23^rd ranked power play. Being that Minnesota is stacked on the back-end, giving up a defender isn’t that unlikely. All of these factors point towards a deal with the Wild being significantly more plausible as we near the deadline.

While Scandella is certainly the better fit, he may not be worth a 1 for 1 trade should the Bruins want to move Eriksson. Draft picks are usually the currency at the deadline, but could some sort of package be worked to acquire both Scandella and Dumba, I feel both teams could benefit. Although highly unlikely, packaging Loui Eriksson with Alex Khokhlachev could be a starting point. Despite Khokhlachev’s lack of effectiveness at the NHL level, chances of GM Don Sweeney moving them both together and the premise of a deal like that doesn’t seem too realistic.

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The more likely swap would be Eriksson for Scandella and a pick/s. Rumors of contract talks with Eriksson could mean the Bruins are attempting to extend him before flipping him to a team interested in more than just a rental as well which could be a bit of a boost to his value.

What do you think?