Free Agency Preview: Loui Eriksson

The Basic Info

Loui Eriksson is a good hockey player, and his career is the perfect example of that. Eriksson has scored 70 points three times in his ten year career, and 60 points twice.

He struggled in his first two season with the Bruins (granted one of them was the lockout season), but bounced back with a 30 goal performance last year. Eriksson is now 30 years old, but he has no signs of taking a significant step back next season. If you put him with the right line, we could see him get back to 70 points a season level.

Recent Stats

Just from looking at Eriksson's stats from the last two seasons, he still has a lot left in him. Scoring 20 goals in this league is no easy feet, but doing it two seasons in a row (and six times in his overall career) just shows that talent this guy has. As mentioned earlier, playing along side a solid group is definitely helpful. Eriksson had the pleasure of playing on a line with David Krejci and David Pastrnak for most of the season. Krejci had a good season this year, and Eriksson was the direct beneficiary of that.

Don't get me wrong though, playing with the right players is not the only factor to Eriksson's success. He has always been a talented two-way skater, and he clearly continues to prove that in recent years.

Where Would He Fit?

The obvious answer here is that he would fit on one of the top two lines. Now trying to figure out which of those lines to put him on is the tricky part.

I, personally, like him on the first line with Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg. I think that would provide that extra punch that the Preds have been looking for on offense, and it would keep the line that was so hot during the playoffs together (Mike Fisher-James Neal-Colin Wilson).

It's clear that Mike Ribeiro will be pushed down to the third line after what David Poile said in his off season press conference. It wouldn't make sense having Eriksson on the third line with his talent level. To me, the top line just makes the most sense to me for Eriksson.

Does It Make Sense?

I personally believe that this would be one of the off season moves that would make sense for Nashville. Not only would they get an extremely talented two-way winger, but they would also get the depth they would be looking for. Just think, this could potentially be the top three lines for Nashville Next season:

Filip Forsberg-Ryan Johansen-Loui Eriksson

Colin Wilson-Mike Fisher-James Neal

Calle Jarnkrok-Mike Ribeiro-Craig Smith

I don't know about you guys, but that looks like a pretty impressive top nine. This is all assuming that everyone plays up to the talent they have of course.

The trouble with Loui is going to be price. It's no secret that Loui Eriksson is a swell player that plays superb hockey on both sides of the ice, and that will draw plenty of suitors. It's no guarantee that David Poile will want to use some of his precious cap room on a player over 30.

But anything that can take the pressure off of Neal and Forsberg on the wings is always a win-win in my books. The fans have stressed that secondary scoring is a key, and this would undoubtedly bring that missing part to this team.