The Vancouver Canucks signed Loui Eriksson, to a six-year 36
million-dollar contract on Friday as the Free Agent Frenzy opened.
The 30-year-old Eriksson scored 30 goals and 33 assists in
82 games for the Boston Bruins this past season.
Canucks general manager, Jim Benning said, “We were looking to add scoring to this
group, and Loui is a player that scored 30 goals in the league last year. We
feel he is a real versatile player; he can play left wing or right wing. He is
a first line power play guy and he can kill penalties. We think he is a good
all-around player and there is a fit there with the Sedins. We just feel at the
end of the day he was the best fit for our club.”
This past season the Canucks scored 182 non-shootout goals, the
fewest in the National Hockey League. They had two 20 goal scorers, Daniel
Sedin (28) and Jannik Hansen (22). The Sedin twins, Daniel (61) and Henrik (55),
were the only Canuks players to score more than 50 points.
In the last 10 seasons, Eriksson has scored 20 goals, six times,
including two 30 goal seasons in that span. In 10 seasons with the Bruins and
Dallas Stars, he has scored 212 goals and 292 assists, over 725 games.
Benning added, “He is
a guy that keeps himself in really good shape physically. He is long, (six foot
two, 183-pounds) and his skill set, his hands, his ability to make plays in
tight spaces has always been very good. We just feel it is a good fit for him with
our group. We need to add scoring to our group and he is going to do that.”
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