The Boston Bruins have been playing mediocre at best the past month, but still find themselves in position to solidify a wild card position. The team owes a lot of its success to winger Loui Eriksson, who is a terrific all-around player with 15 goals and 39 points this season, making him second for points on the team.
Eriksson still has not signed an extension and if no agreement is met soon, he could be traded. Coach Claude Julien expressed his concerns about a move and his reluctance to let Eriksson go.
"That depends," Julien said. "Do you get something in return? Is that something in return something that would help our team? We don'€™t know that, so I can'€™t answer that and I don'€™t think that question is a good thing for me to answer because who knows if he's going [and] who knows what we'd get back? I can't answer it until something happens. Hopefully nothing," according to WEEI's DJ Bean.
"I'd like to keep Loui, period, just like the guys that have left us, I would have loved to have kept," Julien continued. "As a coach, would I like to have Looch [Milan Lucic]? Would I like to have those other guys? Hamilton? Sure, [but] we couldn't keep them for different reasons. You get some good players that end up leaving for reasons that we can't control, so you've got to have the confidence in your upper management that they're going to make the right decision. I can't do anything about it. I can only coach what I have right now. I enjoy having him. I think he's a great player and we'll see where it goes from there."
Before Christmas, the Bruins had made Eriksson an offer, but the 30-year-old and his agent, J.P. Barry, found the term too short and the average annual value too low to take seriously. They are reportedly waiting for the Bruins to make a more credible offer, according to Bean. Eriksson's camp is looking for a deal in the realm of five to six years at $6 million per year, according to the Boston Herald.
If Eriksson does not sign, he has a partial no trade clause, which limits his movement to 14 teams of his choice. The right winger said he is trying not to think about the specifics of the deal now and is focusing on being a Bruin.
"I'm just trying to focus on my game and try to help the team as much as I can and play good," Eriksson stated Monday at the Garden, according to the Herald. "All the other things I can't control right now. All I can do is just go out there and play hockey and help the team. That's all I'm going to focus on."
