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

[WetcoastOrca]

This.

I don't understand what people think this signing accomplishes?

Making us slightly better for the next few years? Is that what people want?

We don't have the pieces to transition once the Sedins retire, and we don't have a good enough team to even make the playoffs while they're playing, let alone make a cup run.

So are people just happy to toil in mediocrity for the next six years?

Mediocrity?
Even with Eriksson we are still one of the worst teams in the NHL and a key injury away from another high pick.
My issue with Benning is not signings like Eriksson. It's trading picks and failing to get more picks at the TDL. Signings like Eriksson aren't what's wrong with the team. Players like Loui are important for young players to learn from. We just need to be getting more picks and more top players in our prospect pool.

 

[mathonwy]

Mediocrity?
Even with Eriksson we are still one of the worst teams in the NHL and a key injury away from another high pick.
My issue with Benning is not signings like Eriksson. It's trading picks and failing to get more picks at the TDL. Signings like Eriksson aren't what's wrong with the team. Players like Loui are important for young players to learn from. We just need to be getting more picks and more top players in our prospect pool.

100% concur.

We benefit enormously if Eriksson can bring a Sedin type of work ethic and finish as opposed to sulky and pissed off Higgins and Vrbata.

We may very well end up losing way more than we win like last season but as long as we lose those games competitively everyone wins. The youngsters develop and learn the game while the vets start getting interested in the game by de facto.

The 2014-15 season was exciting for everyone not because of luck but because of the development of guys like Eddie Lack, Bo Horvat and Ronalds Kenins. Hopefully Eriksson can put the development program back on track.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

What's funny is that in 2014-15 the Bruins were desperate to unload him and he was included in virtually every trade rumour. A few Kassian-Eriksson proposals were tossed around and most Canuck fans wanted no part of it.

Then suddenly he scores 30 goals in a contract year and he's the best player we've ever signed.

It's fine to like him as a player and to be optimistic, but I wish people would keep some God damn perspective sometimes.

 

[quat]

Mediocrity?
Even with Eriksson we are still one of the worst teams in the NHL and a key injury away from another high pick.
My issue with Benning is not signings like Eriksson. It's trading picks and failing to get more picks at the TDL. Signings like Eriksson aren't what's wrong with the team. Players like Loui are important for young players to learn from. We just need to be getting more picks and more top players in our prospect pool.

Add me to this list of posters agreeing with you.

 

[Pip]

100% concur.

We benefit enormously if Eriksson can bring a Sedin type of work ethic and finish as opposed to sulky and pissed off Higgins and Vrbata.

We may very well end up losing way more than we win like last season but as long as we lose those games competitively everyone wins. The youngsters develop and learn the game while the vets start getting interested in the game by de facto.

The 2014-15 season was exciting for everyone not because of luck but because of the development of guys like Eddie Lack, Bo Horvat and Ronalds Kenins. Hopefully Eriksson can put the development program back on track.

I think it's unfair to question Higgins' work ethic here. His play dropped off and was hampered by the foot injiry but I didnt see any sulking. When he was sent down I heard nothing but good things (unlike Prust). Higgins worked his way back up and I don't think it was because he was coasting and sulking..

 

[canuckking1]

I would've increased price to lower term man this is gonna handicap the future gm

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I think it's unfair to question Higgins' work ethic here. His play dropped off and was hampered by the foot injiry but I didnt see any sulking. When he was sent down I heard nothing but good things (unlike Prust). Higgins worked his way back up and I don't think it was because he was coasting and sulking..

Indeed.

Comets staff and players raved about the role he was playing when he was down there.

It's frankly kind of sickening to hear this new revisionist history about him being mad and sulking when he handled his poor treatment with as much professionalism as you will ever see.

Prust, on the other hand...

 

[canuckking1]

What's funny is that in 2014-15 the Bruins were desperate to unload him and he was included in virtually every trade rumour. A few Kassian-Eriksson proposals were tossed around and most Canuck fans wanted no part of it.

Then suddenly he scores 30 goals in a contract year and he's the best player we've ever signed.

It's fine to like him as a player and to be optimistic, but I wish people would keep some God damn perspective sometimes.

Last offseason their was a rumor that Vrbata for Erickson and a 2nd. He has a good season and now we signed him to crazy money and term

 

[canuckking1]

Inb4 a Vrbata Esque season from Loui rip Canucks

 

[ziploc]

I think it's unfair to question Higgins' work ethic here. His play dropped off and was hampered by the foot injiry but I didnt see any sulking. When he was sent down I heard nothing but good things (unlike Prust). Higgins worked his way back up and I don't think it was because he was coasting and sulking..

Agreed. The issue was not attitude, but ability, in Higgins' case.

Vrbata and Prust can go soak their heads, but Higgins is a class act.

 

[opendoor]

Well the counter arguments to that are:

1) Eriksson doesn't transform this team into a "winning" team, he just makes sure we don't get a top 5 draft pick

2) Even if he somehow did manage to create a "winning" environment, we don't have enough quality prospects that would benefit from this environment. It's not like we have Marner/Nylander/Matthews or something like that that are poised to take over and need mentoring.

Toronto and Edmonton are examples of teams that need to create a winning environment. They have the pieces that are ready to take over and start winning games and pushing for that 8th playoff spot, even if they don't make it this upcoming season.

Vancouver doesn't have the pieces, so trying to create a "winning environment" not only won't work, but it will prevent us from selling assets, drafting high and acquiring those blue chip prospects.

Yeah, good prospects in a "losing environment" are going to turn out a hell of a lot better than mediocre ones in a "winning environment", setting aside the fact that the Canucks aren't really in a position to do much winning in the coming years.

To use Calgary as an example, I'll take Gaudreau, Monahan, and Bennett developing on a bad team as opposed to Backlund, Baertschi, etc. coming into a "winning environment" where the team was really just stuck in purgatory.

 

[topheavyhookjaw]

I don't love this deal. It's more money and term than I would want to pay a 30+ winger.

More broadly though, it's the context that this fits into. Eriksson is a very good player, he's younger than Vrbata was when they signed him, he should have 3-4 very solid years left. Years 5-6 of this deal could be very bad though, value wise. I don't think it's ever a bad thing to get a good player on the team. I think in the context of the other longer term deals it's more troublesome.

I'd much prefer them to sign a guy like Eriksson to get the two-for-one of mentorship and ability. Instead they are still paying for character/experience in the lineup in other ways for guys who contribute much less (Miller/Dorsett).

If the intended benefits of Eriksson are character, two-way play, work ethic etc, I would like to see him play with Horvat for a couple of seasons, would be nice to give him a winger with a little more defensive acumen to see if his possession numbers can improve and his two way game rounds into form (as we expect it to).

I like the player, don't like the contract, but am optimistic he is valuable for the next 3-4 years and either plays a role in bringing Horvat's game up, or extends the Sedins' twilight years a bit.

 

[PancakeHero]

What's funny is that in 2014-15 the Bruins were desperate to unload him and he was included in virtually every trade rumour. A few Kassian-Eriksson proposals were tossed around and most Canuck fans wanted no part of it.

Then suddenly he scores 30 goals in a contract year and he's the best player we've ever signed.

It's fine to like him as a player and to be optimistic, but I wish people would keep some God damn perspective sometimes.

Bruins really pushed to sign him this year.

 

[Oliewud]

Bruins really pushed to sign him this year.

Bruins fan said he struggled playing on his off wing. When they switched him to his natural left wing he flourished.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Bruins fan said he struggled playing on his off wing. When they switched him to his natural left wing he flourished.

So why does everyone have him playing rw next season?

 

[Addison Rae]

Yeah, good prospects in a "losing environment" are going to turn out a hell of a lot better than mediocre ones in a "winning environment", setting aside the fact that the Canucks aren't really in a position to do much winning in the coming years.

To use Calgary as an example, I'll take Gaudreau, Monahan, and Bennett developing on a bad team as opposed to Backlund, Baertschi, etc. coming into a "winning environment" where the team was really just stuck in purgatory.

This is actually an excellent point.

As for Eriksson I was a huge fan of his when he was in Dallas, I considered him arguably the best two-way winger in the entire league, he had a few off years derailed by injury in Boston but rebounded very well. I like him as a player quite a bit, but he absolutely is not the type of player that's needed here. The cap hit is fairly solid and if we were competing I would have zero issues with this, but at this point Id rather utilize the cap space better.

 

[Oliewud]

So why does everyone have him playing rw next season?

This scenario is a little different considering the chemistry he already has from playing with the twins internationally.

 

[VanillaCoke]

So why does everyone have him playing rw next season?

Daniel is switching to RW

 

[Oliewud]

Wouldn't mind seeing this lineup to balance out the scoring.

Sedin Sedin Hansen
Eriksson Horvat Baertschi
Rodin Sutter Virtanen
Burrows Granlund Dorsett

 

[SillyRabbit]

Yeah, good prospects in a "losing environment" are going to turn out a hell of a lot better than mediocre ones in a "winning environment", setting aside the fact that the Canucks aren't really in a position to do much winning in the coming years.

To use Calgary as an example, I'll take Gaudreau, Monahan, and Bennett developing on a bad team as opposed to Backlund, Baertschi, etc. coming into a "winning environment" where the team was really just stuck in purgatory.

I think the issue here is that many posters believe that the youth/prospects we have are much better than they actually are.

We are missing 3-4 blue chip prospects. Boeser is the only player we have that has the potential to be a 1st liner, and that's only if he develops extremely well.

Juolevi, Horvat, etc are good complementary pieces but they are not the cornerstones of our core going forward. They have the potential to be great #2-3 D and #2 C but we need guys to play on that first line and that top pairing.

 

[Boose Brudreau]

This is actually an excellent point.

As for Eriksson I was a huge fan of his when he was in Dallas, I considered him arguably the best two-way winger in the entire league, he had a few off years derailed by injury in Boston but rebounded very well. I like him as a player quite a bit, but he absolutely is not the type of player that's needed here. The cap hit is fairly solid and if we were competing I would have zero issues with this, but at this point Id rather utilize the cap space better.

on what? Our two biggest problems last year were not scoring enough and letting too many goals in. Eriksson was, without a shadow of a doubt, the best two way forward available in free agency. I get the pro tank concept....shed salary/old dudes/stockpile picks etc.... but please explain your position.

 

[JA]

 

[Bobby Digital]

100% concur.

We benefit enormously if Eriksson can bring a Sedin type of work ethic and finish as opposed to sulky and pissed off Higgins and Vrbata.

We may very well end up losing way more than we win like last season but as long as we lose those games competitively everyone wins. The youngsters develop and learn the game while the vets start getting interested in the game by de facto.

The 2014-15 season was exciting for everyone not because of luck but because of the development of guys like Eddie Lack, Bo Horvat and Ronalds Kenins. Hopefully Eriksson can put the development program back on track.

There was absolutely nothing exciting about the 2014-15 season besides Bo Horvat. Even then that season was extremely boring.

 

[Scurr]

There was absolutely nothing exciting about the 2014-15 season besides Bo Horvat. Even then that season was extremely boring.

I enjoyed watching games that season. Edler/Tanev established themselves as a top pairing, Vrbata scored 30 goals, Bonino had some people comparing him to Robert Lang.

15/16 season was boring.

 

[JA]

There was absolutely nothing exciting about the 2014-15 season besides Bo Horvat. Even then that season was extremely boring.

Radim Vrbata was named the Canucks' most exciting player and MVP.

He had 31 goals, some of which were marvelous.





Then there was Ronalds Kenins, who clicked so well with Bo Horvat and looked like he had a future with the Canucks: