Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign RW Loui Eriksson to 6-year, $36m deal ($6m AAV w/ NMC)

[Canucker]

Sutter, Horvat, Bae, Hansen, Virtanen and Rodin should be able to provide some sort of secondary scoring on the 2nd and 3rd lines, or are you expecting all of them to do nothing like most Benning-hating armchair GM's in here?

I'm expecting that they aren't going to be able to compete with most other teams.

 

[opendoor]

So the Sedin's are nothing now? With Eriksson they will potentially be one of the best scoring lines in the division. What a sad, close minded fan base we have.

People are close-minded because they don't think replacing Vrbata with Eriksson turns the worst team in the NHL into a contender? Do you honestly not see the difference between what the Sharks had this year and what the Canucks have up front?

 

[canucksfan]

People are close-minded because they don't think replacing Vrbata with Eriksson turns the worst team in the NHL into a contender? Do you honestly not see the difference between what the Sharks had this year and what the Canucks have up front?

Not to mention Sedins are in the decline. As it stands now in order for this team to get close to the playoffs a few of the younger guys have to step up huge.

 

[CanaFan]

I'm expecting that they aren't going to be able to compete with most other teams.

Ya the guys listed will definitely provide *some sort* of secondary scoring, just probably not the good kind.

Sutter = 30 points historically
Hansen = 15 goals historically when not on the Sedins wing
Rodin = who the hell knows?
Virtanen = 20 year old sophomore coming off a 7 goal rookie season
Baertschi = building off a 15 goal season
Horvat = most promising of the bunch, could get up to 20 goals

As far as secondary scoring goes that has the appearance of a bottom 10 team. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the kids will break out unexpectedly but odds are better that this team struggles to score massively again this year.

None of which is Eriksson's fault, he's a solid signing on his own, just mis-timed IMO. Would have liked this signing back in 2010 a lot more than in 2016.

 

[DFAC]

Always liked Eriksson...good deal. Maybe a year or two too long but I guess he wanted term.

Like others have said, would have been fantastic had we signed him in 2010

 

[kanucks25]

So the Sedin's are nothing now? With Eriksson they will potentially be one of the best scoring lines in the division. What a sad, close minded fan base we have.

It's not even close to enough to make us a good team.

Just like sales. I rather be "darn lucky" then good. Honestly after the 2nd round in a draft, it's all a crapshoot.

We look at things historically, for example getting Pavel Bure, etc. It wasn't because our scouts were better than anyone else... there was a lot and i mean A LOT of pure luck involved.
Anyways this is a Loui Eriksson thread so I'll leave it at that. I'm happy for once that we are able to land a player of Loui's calibre in free agency. Usually it's just a whole bunch of disappointments.

I can tell you something, if Benning didn't do anything July 1st, he'll still get crapped by us for doing nothing.

That was 25 years ago when players could slip through cracks in the scouting system. That isn't really the case anymore. Hoping to draft hall-of-famers in the bottom of the draft is ridiculous.

I know I definitely would have praised Benning for having the balls not sign anyone, or at least not to sign a stupid contract, yesterday. It would be a sign that he thought about the team's real future in 3+ years when we'll actually have a chance to start looking like a good team.

It would have been amazing to go into the season with a bunch of cap space, acquiring young assets for cap dumps and keeping space open for next year's UFA if there were some better fits.

People are close-minded because they don't think replacing Vrbata with Eriksson turns the worst team in the NHL into a contender? Do you honestly not see the difference between what the Sharks had this year and what the Canucks have up front?

Exactly this.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Ya the guys listed will definitely provide *some sort* of secondary scoring, just probably not the good kind.

Sutter = 30 points historically
Hansen = 15 goals historically when not on the Sedins wing
Rodin = who the hell knows?
Virtanen = 20 year old sophomore coming off a 7 goal rookie season
Baertschi = building off a 15 goal season
Horvat = most promising of the bunch, could get up to 20 goals

As far as secondary scoring goes that has the appearance of a bottom 10 team. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the kids will break out unexpectedly but odds are better that this team struggles to score massively again this year.

None of which is Eriksson's fault, he's a solid signing on his own, just mis-timed IMO. Would have liked this signing back in 2010 a lot more than in 2016.

Gotta love when people list rookie's and sophmore's..and historic third liners as personnel that will provide secondary scoring.

 

[CanaFan]

People are close-minded because they don't think replacing Vrbata with Eriksson turns the worst team in the NHL into a contender? Do you honestly not see the difference between what the Sharks had this year and what the Canucks have up front?

Yep. Sharks are what the Canucks would be if they had drafted better between 2005-2011 and hadn't had their core pieces shipped off in a series of value-losing trades. It is too late for this version of the Canucks to "become" the Sharks. The guys that are leading that Sharks team and supporting a clearly declining Thornton and Marleau (our Sedins equivalent) were drafted mainly between 2003-2010 and are currently in their primes as players. It will be several years more before Horvat, Virtanen, Boeser, Hutton, Juolevi, etc reach that level of performance (if they ever do) and by then the Sedins will be tossing back a cold lingonberry ale by some lake in Ornskoldsvik. The age gap is too large between the Sedins and this next wave. Their Pavelskis, Burns, Coutures, and Vlasics were Kesler, Edler, Burrows, and Hamhuis. That team had its shot and didn't quite get it done. Trying to hastily re-assemble a poor imitation of that team instead of starting from the ground up with a new core is an almost certainly futile strategy.

 

[Cupless44]

One of the worst aspects of this signing for me is that there is already talk of re- upping the Sedins. I have really been looking forward to their contracts being over in 2 seasons so a proper rebuild can begin. They have been good players but after 16 years, really need something fresh and more promising.

 

[iFan]

One of the worst aspects of this signing for me is that there is already talk of re- upping the Sedins. I have really been looking forward to their contracts being over in 2 seasons so a proper rebuild can begin. They have been good players but after 16 years, really need something fresh and more promising.

Sedins will be 37 by the end of this contract? I'm not sure they will be around still, their game has been declining, Is Hank even a top line centre still? 11 goals, 55pts, that's good for a second line centre, how will he be for these next two seasons? I'm not sure he's got much left to go longer after this contract.

 

[CanaFan]

One of the worst aspects of this signing for me is that there is already talk of re- upping the Sedins. I have really been looking forward to their contracts being over in 2 seasons so a proper rebuild can begin. They have been good players but after 16 years, really need something fresh and more promising.

Ya it's gonna be like an infinite loop of needing to compete while we have Eriksson signed, then the Sedins, then whomever we bring in to play with the Sedins after Eriksson. Reminds me of the Leafs 2005-2007 trying to win while they still had an aging Sundin. Yet even they finally clued in that it was time to move on from their franchise player and captain and take the team in another direction. Sadly for them that direction was Brian Burke and his truculence and speeding up the rebuild strategy, which they are just now recovering from. Hope it doesn't take us that long to figure it out.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Ya the guys listed will definitely provide *some sort* of secondary scoring, just probably not the good kind.

Sutter = 30 points historically
Hansen = 15 goals historically when not on the Sedins wing
Rodin = who the hell knows?
Virtanen = 20 year old sophomore coming off a 7 goal rookie season
Baertschi = building off a 15 goal season
Horvat = most promising of the bunch, could get up to 20 goals

As far as secondary scoring goes that has the appearance of a bottom 10 team. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the kids will break out unexpectedly but odds are better that this team struggles to score massively again this year.

None of which is Eriksson's fault, he's a solid signing on his own, just mis-timed IMO. Would have liked this signing back in 2010 a lot more than in 2016.

This signing or one like it wasn't going to happen in 2010.

 

[opendoor]

One of the worst aspects of this signing for me is that there is already talk of re- upping the Sedins. I have really been looking forward to their contracts being over in 2 seasons so a proper rebuild can begin. They have been good players but after 16 years, really need something fresh and more promising.

Depends. If management and ownership behaved rationally and understood where the team actually sits, then extending the Sedins would be fine. They'll still probably be good players, are excellent people, and can help take some of the pressure off of young players. And it's not like the Canucks have anything in the pipeline to replace them with anyway.

Unfortunately, I assume the team would see extending them as a continuation of their "win now" strategy and it'll just mean trading more picks and making more short term decisions.

 

[stexx]

People are close-minded because they don't think replacing Vrbata with Eriksson turns the worst team in the NHL into a contender? Do you honestly not see the difference between what the Sharks had this year and what the Canucks have up front?

who the heck is talking contender? People are hoping we will be competitive not a complete tire-fire like last year where it was a feat to get 10shots a period let alone score.

Personally i believe you have to have some solid veterans in the lineup in order to be able to slot the rookies in places where they can succeed without sinking. We saw last year rookies starting to take on water as they were put in roles they were not ready to fill.

Eriksson is a solid pro and unlike vrbata is sound defensively and can play anywhere in a lineup from LW to RW from 1st line to 3rd line.

Term is obviously too long but there is no way they could ice a middle six next year consisting of etem, horvat, sutter, rodin, baertschi, virtanen. Term is the currency of July1 everyone overpays its the nature of the beast.

 

[opendoor]

This signing or one like it wasn't going to happen in 2010.

Correct. The Canucks already had 65 goals from their top 2 RWers for a combined $4.5M in 2010, both of whom were on UFA contracts. It was nice having a management team that knew how to negotiate.

 

[CanaFan]

This signing or one like it wasn't going to happen in 2010.

Well it *didn't* happen so I am indifferent to whether it "could have" or not. Simply saying it would have been a great signing with the 2010 team in place. With this team I don't really care either way. I guess I can't blame management/ownership for wanting this player and the contract isn't a bad one relative to other UFAs. Just find it counter-productive to the direction I believe they should be going in.

 

[iFan]

Depends. If management and ownership behaved rationally and understood where the team actually sits, then extending the Sedins would be fine. They'll still probably be good players, are excellent people, and can help take some of the pressure off of young players. And it's not like the Canucks have anything in the pipeline to replace them with anyway.

Unfortunately, I assume the team would see extending them as a continuation of their "win now" strategy and it'll just mean trading more picks and making more short term decisions.

Sedins would be 38 to start that new contract, I don't see this happening, two more seasons left and I can see their game dropping enough in that final season for them to get out and retire. One way or another Canucks will be in a forced rebuild, unless a guy like Johansen comes and signs here as soon as he becomes a UFA and fills that top line centre spot, that would speed things up hugely.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Well it *didn't* happen so I am indifferent to whether it "could have" or not. Simply saying it would have been a great signing with the 2010 team in place. With this team I don't really care either way. I guess I can't blame management/ownership for wanting this player and the contract isn't a bad one relative to other UFAs. Just find it counter-productive to the direction I believe they should be going in.

Meh I'm not going to sit here and call myself a Canucks fan while I ***** and mooan about one of the very few times we've been able to attract a genuine top 6 FA forward target in franchise history.

 

[CanaFan]

who the heck is talking contender? People are hoping we will be competitive not a complete tire-fire like last year where it was a feat to get 10shots a period let alone score.

Personally i believe you have to have some solid veterans in the lineup in order to be able to slot the rookies in places where they can succeed without sinking. We saw last year rookies starting to take on water as they were put in roles they were not ready to fill.

Eriksson is a solid pro and unlike vrbata is sound defensively and can play anywhere in a lineup from LW to RW from 1st line to 3rd line.

Term is obviously too long but there is no way they could ice a middle six next year consisting of etem, horvat, sutter, rodin, baertschi, virtanen. Term is the currency of July1 everyone overpays its the nature of the beast.

Really? I mostly saw rookies sitting on the bench in the 3rd period, lining up with crappy 4th line wingers, or scratched so "character" vets could play more minutes.

The only rookie who was put in a significant role was Hutton and he was probably our second best D for much of the season.

Throwing our rookies into the deep end was certainly not what this team did not was it even close to a major reason this team sucked it's way to 28th. That falls largely on overplaying guys like Bartowski, Weber, Vey, Dorsett, and messing around with the Sedins former 31 goal winger.

 

[jfc64]

On the winning Team Sweden team:

Sedin – Sedin – Eriksson
Forsberg – Bäckström – Hörnqvist
Landeskog РȘderberg РZetterberg
Steen – Krüger – Silfverberg
Hagelin – Rakell

Ekholm – Karlsson
Hedman РStr̴lman
Ekman – Hjalmarsson
Lindholm – Kronwall

Lundqvist
Markström / Lehner

 

[CanaFan]

Meh I'm not going to sit here and call myself a Canucks fan while I ***** and mooan about one of the very few times we've been able to attract a genuine top 6 FA forward target in franchise history.

Do what you like. In isolation it's a fine signing. But it's a bandaid on a sinking ship. I'm more in favour of rebuilding the hull going forward.

 

[ChilliBilly]

This signing or one like it wasn't going to happen in 2010.

we were a cap team ....

 

[opendoor]

who the heck is talking contender? People are hoping we will be competitive not a complete tire-fire like last year where it was a feat to get 10shots a period let alone score.

The person I was responding to.

Personally i believe you have to have some solid veterans in the lineup in order to be able to slot the rookies in places where they can succeed without sinking. We saw last year rookies starting to take on water as they were put in roles they were not ready to fill.

Eriksson is a solid pro and unlike vrbata is sound defensively and can play anywhere in a lineup from LW to RW from 1st line to 3rd line.

Term is obviously too long but there is no way they could ice a middle six next year consisting of etem, horvat, sutter, rodin, baertschi, virtanen. Term is the currency of July1 everyone overpays its the nature of the beast.

Sure, but you can add solid veterans without tying yourself down to a 6 year deal for a 31 year old. Besides, I'm not really sure the Canucks are lacking in that department. Nearly half of the team's starting forward group is 30+ years old next season. This was less about insulating young players and more about trying to compete now.

 

[iFan]

In 2011 when it mattered gillis wing acquisitions were nowhere to be found.

I wish he had been able to secure an actual top notch FA and real top 6 forward for the 2011 run. He unfortunate targeted Ballard in that embarrassing and now infamous 2010 draft.

Gillis vision also turned that team from a defensive team to an offensive team and that move alone turned the team around. Gillis wasn't as bad as it's made out, he did his part to be fired but I think a big part of Gillis being let go was that he went out and said this team needed to rebuild and the owner didn't like that plan, Gillis was right at that time we should've sold high on our vets and rebuild, Canucks would be in a great spot right now.

 

[Hit the post]

we were a cap team ....

Guy also blindly ignores the fact the other executives in the league (including Burke) thought Gilligan did a good enough job in 2010/11 to warrant winning the GM of the year award.

But back to the topic of this thread.....

At least the team should be more interesting to watch that the debacle of last season (which was even worse that the Torts disaster season).