If the name Loui Eriksson sounds familiar but you can’t quite place it, here is your reminder that he’s the only remaining player left in Boston from the Tyler Seguin to Dallas deal. Also, his name has been swirling around trade rumors pretty much since he got traded to Boston.
Eriksson is quietly having his most productive goal scoring season since 2009-10 and most productive point season since 2010-11. Does this mean the 30-year-old winger is overachieving? Probably a little (especially since he’s shooting at the second highest rate of his career), which is what could make him such an attractive trade piece. Since being traded to the Boston Bruins, Eriksson saw sharp declines in his overall point production, which may or may not be attributable to lingering effects suffered from a John Scott hit to the head early in the 2013-14 season. It’s possible he’s finally healthy now and could be having a bounce back season.
LA might be interested in the 6’2 Swede because he’s quite comfortable playing both sides of the ice and regularly lines up for the Bruins as both a left wing and a right wing. A very disciplined player, Eriksson has taken only four penalties in 60 games played while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night. (This should be a big boost to LA’s penalty kill at the very least.) His Corsi For% (relative to team) is also third highest on the team of those who have played 100+ minutes, behind only noted slubs Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. A useful defensive forward, as a one-to-one switch for the injured Marian Gaborik, Eriksson would only be a slight offensive downgrade. Extra bonus: it could push Dustin Brown out of the top-six when Gaborik comes back.
The Bruins are asking for a first and a middling prospect in return for Eriksson or a top-four defenseman. Given that the Kings lack a 2016 first (dealt to Carolina in the Andrej Sekera trade), LA would have to be willing to part with their 2017 first and a prospect such as Nic Dowd, Adrian Kempe or Valentin Zykov. The flip side is that they could trade Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin or Brayden McNabb to get a little scoring help. However, that seems like they’d be creating one hole just to fill another, especially since they’re apparently interested in upgrading their defense. Again.
Coming off a six-year $25.5 million deal, Eriksson is probably not going to look for a huge payday, but the Kings probably couldn’t afford to pay him anywhere close to what he’s making now, especially if they have designs to re-sign Lucic. With such a steep asking price, the Kings may look elsewhere to bolster their forward corps.