Taking on the Eriksson deal a risk worth taking for the Boston Bruins
It’s certainly a risk, but one that may be worth trying. For one, the Boston Bruins have a much more talented top nine than the Vancouver Canucks, and Loui Eriksson could certainly benefit. Even if his offensive game doesn’t get better, he is still solid in the defensive end and could help improve an already solid penalty kill.
Meanwhile, David Backes brings a veteran and leadership presence to Vancouver. He changed his role with the Boston Bruins to better fit in with the organization, because he is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. He adds a physical presence to a team who lacks that such trait. It’s a decent fit both ways, plus the Canucks reeled in draft picks in a really good draft year.
With the salary retainment on Eriksson, the Boston Bruins cap space jumps up to $8,194,167. Let’s say that Charlie McAvoy takes the projected contract that EvolvingWild speculated ($7,260,277 per season), that leaves the Bruins with $933,890 left (before sending down Pavel Shen).
Once all roster moves are made, and the Bruins have one extra forward and two extra defensemen, they are left with $1,743,057 in space. Here’s what that lineup would look like, using CapFriendly’s Armchair-GM tool; it’s not half bad at all!
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Charlie Coyle
Joakim Nordstrom–Danton Heinen-Loui Eriksson
Brett Ritchie–Sean Kuraly-Chris Wagner
Extra forward: Par Lindholm
Zdeno Chara-Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug-Matt Grzelcyk
Extra defensemen: Connor Clifton, Steven Kampfer