BOSTON – Don Sweeney confirmed that Bruins winger Loui Eriksson will be in the lineup on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but admitted “there’s a gap” in negotiations between the team and Eriksson’s camp on a contract extension. The Bruins have made “significant contract offers” in the four year range for between $20-24 million, but Eriksson’s camp is pushing for something in the 5-6 year range for the 30-year-old right winger.
While Sweeney wasn’t shying away from the fact that Eriksson has come up in trade discussions across the league, nothing is close enough for the Bruins to preemptively pull him out of the lineup. The Bruins general manager also indicated that he’d be okay with holding onto Eriksson for the upcoming playoff run even if they don’t come to an extension agreement.
“Loui is a good player. He’s having a great season. He’s been very important to our success to date, and he will be treated as such,” said Sweeney. “I’ve had several discussions with other teams, and if they felt on that side of that a deal was the right fit then that’s something we’d explore. But our preference all along has been to try and re-sign, and then go from there.”
The Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues have been the lead candidates for potential deals involving Eriksson with Jonas Brodin linked to trade discussions with the Wild, though it would need to a package of assets including the B’s forward for the 22-year-old Minny defenseman. The bottom line is that the Bruins could expect at least a first round pick and a prospect, and perhaps something much greater in a bigger deal, should they move on trade discussions for a soon to be free agent that’s pacing for 30 goals and 70 points this season.