The Boston Bruins seem to be running out of time.
In eleven days, Boston Bruins forward Loui Eriksson will become an unrestricted free agent. The Bruins and Eriksson’s team are still having conversations, but they don’t seem any closer to getting the deal done.
“Don and I have been in regular communication,” Eriksson’s agent J.P. Barry told ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. “We were expecting a new offer from the club at some point but we haven’t received one yet. I’m sure we will speak again prior to the draft about their intentions.”
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The Boston Bruins have a decent amount of cap space still available ($20,048,333 according to Generalfanager). On the downside, the Black and Gold only have fourteen players under contract. They’ve yet to come to terms with Torey Krug, and they’ll need to put together some sort of extension package for Brad Marchand before the end of the season.
Eriksson had a solid season for the Bruins last year, putting up 63 points (30 goals). He finished third in goals, second in overall points, and was one of the most reliable players the Bruins had last season. Eriksson came out of the season looking for a decent pay-day, and if he ends up going to free agency, he’s certain to find a team who is willing to pay him what he wants.
While the Black and Gold know what a solid player he was for them last season, the Bruins organization seems very hesitant to sign a 30-plus year old forward that has had multiple concussions. In the end, maybe it’s best that the Bruins do let him walk.
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It’s looking more and more likely that the Bruins will trade Eriksson’s rights at the Draft. Perhaps they’ll just try to acquire draft picks. Maybe they’ll add one of their own along with Eriksson to get their hands on a reliable top-four defenseman. Hopefully, the Bruins front office can get something decent in exchange for giving up the player they thought would be a good exchange for Tyler Seguin.
Don Sweeney took a lot of flak from the Boston media and over Eriksson. Sweeney could have moved some players around (including Eriksson), but he chose to keep everyone. He even gave up draft picks to secure the services of players like Lee Stempniak and John-Michael Liles. If the Bruins just let him walk with nothing to gain, this would be the first nail in the coffin of the Sweeney administration.