Can We Please Put An End To These Loui Eriksson To Chicago Rumors?
Over the past couple weeks I’ve been getting a lot of tweets about Loui Eriksson to the Blackhawks. Yes, the Bruins are probably exploring trades for Loui Eriksson because he’s a UFA this summer and the Bruins almost certainly won’t be able to re-sign him. And yes, the Blackhawks could use some help at LW. To me, that’s where the logic for this trade ends.
Maybe I am way off base here, but I don’t think the Bruins will sell Eriksson for the typical package a team gets for a rental. That’s something rebuilding teams do and last time I checked…
Typically teams tied for 2nd place don’t sell off important pieces of their team for futures. Which would suggest the Bruins would want to make a pure hockey trade and get a defenseman in return that can help immediately. Perhaps they call their old friend Peter Chiarelli about Justin Schultz. Maybe the call St. Louis about Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk was rumored to be on the block before Pietrangelo went down. Now Petro is skating with the team, return is around the corner, and Alex Steen is still out with an injury meaning the Blues could use some forward help. Getting Dan Hamuis from Vancouver would also make sense. You know what doesn’t make sense?
Oh really? You’d like the Hawks best prospect AND their first round pick for a rental? Well I’d like to fuck Candice Swaenpoel. Unfortunately, I think she’s about as interested in an over-weight blogger as the Hawks are in this trade. Eriksson is still a nice player, but as I outlined in a blog last week I don’t think his game fits all that well in Chicago. Toews and Hossa are more effective when the LW on that line has an element of bite to his game. That’s not Eriksson. Loui is having a nice year with 23 goals, but he also has a shooting percentage significantly above his career mark at 17%. He’s due for a regression. 17% is an Ovi/Stamkos number. Loui could certainly help the Hawks from a depth perspective, but this trade proposal is insulting. So my offer is this: Nothing. Not even the cap hit, which I would appreciate if the Bruins put up personally.
Again, I don’t see how this is a fit for the Bruins either. I can’t see them waving the fight flag by moving their biggest trade chip for assets that can’t help them until 2017 at the absolute earliest. I’ve said that the Bruins are dead and that they should look to the future, but that would be a very bold move for a new GM and a team trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. Maybe the Bruins will decide to concede 2016, but they aren’t getting a top prospect and a first for Loui from the Hawks, so leave it alone.