Kalman: Bruins Have To Trade Eriksson, Regardless Of Road Trip Results
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
WILMINGTON (CBS) -- The Bruins bid farewell to the Bay State after practice on Wednesday, as they departed for their longest road trip of the season.
The six-game trip might turn out to be a farewell of sorts for several Bruins depending on what general manager Don Sweeney has planned. The next time the Bruins play on TD Garden ice, it will only be one week until the Feb. 29 trade deadline.
Despite their 9-2 loss to Los Angeles on Tuesday, the Bruins are still in an Eastern Conference playoff position. They woke up Wednesday tied with Tampa Bay and Detroit for second place in the Atlantic Division with 62 points. The Bruins, who were 2-0-1 in the three contests before they got whooped by the Kings, were ready to look past the overwhelming defeat.
"The bottom line is we're where we want to be and that's in a playoff spot. The issue is not where we are more than where do we want to stay. This is why these trips here become important. That's where our energy is being put," coach Claude Julien said.
Based on past results, we know what the road trip is going to be like. The Bruins are going to win a few and lose a few. They might go to overtime or a shootout once or twice. Only half the trip includes games against teams currently in their conference's playoff structure. So the mediocre Bruins are going to take on a bunch of mediocre teams and probably come home in the same mediocre spot in the standings they're in today.
Of course, if the Bruins fail to even maintain their mediocre status, then there could be changes. Sweeney might have no choice but to make some trades, and consider dealing players other than contract-year forward Loui Eriksson. So a side note to the Bruins' drive to maintain their place in the standings is to convince Sweeney to keep the band together.
"I guess we can look at it that way," center David Krejci said. "But obviously we all get along, we really like each other. This group is so much closer than it was last year. It's been so much fun so we want to stay together, we're going to play for each other, we talk about it. We have a big road trip coming up.
"We don't want to put any crazy ideas in Donnie's head. So we've got to go out there, show up and play like [we're a good team]."
A road trip of two points or less might cause Sweeney to make a drastic move or two. Perhaps Torey Krug or Zdeno Chara would land in the middle of trade talks. But one thing Sweeney can't let a successful or failed road trip do is prevent him from making the only move that makes sense with Eriksson, and that's trade the forward for as much as he can get.
As great as Eriksson is, the Bruins could make the playoffs in the unimpressive East without him. All it would take is stronger play from Tuukka Rask in net, a couple of guys scoring other than Brad Marchand, and a little more structure in the defensive zone. All these things become more difficult without Eriksson, but Sweeney has little choice in the matter.
Eriksson has served his purpose with the Bruins. Although he was never fully himself through his first two seasons, he contributed what he could to the 2013-14 Presidents' Trophy-winning team. This season, he emerged as the two-way force he was in Dallas. And Eriksson's reversion couldn't have come a better time for him or the Bruins. He's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and he's going to demand to be paid what he's worth – starting somewhere at five or six years at $6-7 million, depending where the market goes.
In a salary cap-less world, the Bruins would do all they could to retain Eriksson. But re-signing the 30-year-old Eriksson would put a wrench in the flexibility plan Sweeney put in motion last summer with his trades of Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton, and undermine the Bruins going forward when they have to finalize new contracts for defenseman Torey Krug (this summer) and forwards Marchand and David Pastrnak (prior to next summer).
Eriksson is a great player that will make any contending team better. He's versatile and easy-going. He has earned the right to pick his new home next summer. Even if he wanted to stay in Boston at a reasonable rate, though, the Bruins would be wise to stick to their youth movement, especially when you consider what they might be able to get for Eriksson in a trade.
Mostly, they'd probably be able to get a second- or third-round draft pick and a prospect. Maybe they'd be able to expand the deal to include multiple assets on both sides. Maybe they even get a NHL-ready player to help for this season. It's rare for a team to have a player of Eriksson's caliber at this stage and be able to move him without decimating the team's current season, but that's where the Bruins are. To paraphrase Branch Rickey, the Bruins can finish third without Eriksson.
This is Sweeney's chance to salvage some respectability from the disastrous Tyler Seguin trade. If he maximizes Eriksson's value, Sweeney's risky plot to stay relevant in the present while building for the future might have a chance at success.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
