Vancouver Canucks 2018-19 season grades: Loui Eriksson

At The Canuck Way, we’re continuing our recap of every player’s season, plus their 2018-19 grades. It’s time to take a look at Loui Eriksson.

The Vancouver Canucks probably realized after year one that Loui Eriksson wasn’t going to really live up to the the six-year, $36 million deal that he signed in the 2016 offseason.

A six-time 20-goal scorer with three 70-point seasons in his resume, Eriksson wasn’t able to click with the Sedin twins. Or on the second line. Not so much on the third line, either. Halfway through his deal, and Eriksson has just 32 goals and 76 points in 196 games with the Canucks.

Expectations have decreased for Eriksson with each passing year, and head coach Travis Green has had little choice but to use him in a shutdown role. Eriksson can be effective as a grinder and penalty killer, but he’s not going to regain that 20-goal form again.

But hey, Eriksson actually had his most productive season as a Canuck, statistically speaking. So you can’t say this season was as disappointing as 2016-17 or 2017-18. Eriksson didn’t fall short of expectations. He essentially met them.

Season grade: C

It’s not really fair to sit back here and just throw anything lower than a C at Eriksson right now. He only had 11 goals and 24 points in 65 games during the 2016-17 campaign.

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After a solid start in 2017-18, Eriksson regressed and finished with 10 goals and 23 points in 50 games. Those were two years in which you could have given him a letter grade as low as an F or I.

Eriksson finally stayed healthy and missed just one game all season long. He finished with 11 goals and 29 points this season — his most in a Vancouver so far. The Canucks cut back on his ice time by a couple of minutes compared to 2017-18, but it was the smart move for an oft-injured 33-year-old.

Eriksson recorded a pair of game-winning goals this season, and his shooting percentage moved up to 10.3 for the year. Again, it’s not enough to justify $36 million and all, but Eriksson at least performed better than the last two years.

That’s why a C feels right for Eriksson. The Canucks and fans had hoped that he’d be a 20-30 goal and 50-plus point guy in 2016-17. They hoped for a rebound in 2017-18. Neither happened. But in 2018-19, Eriksson played at the level you expected him to.

Again, he essentially met expectations this season. That’s why it’s unfair to give him a harsh grade here. Eriksson’s veteran leadership will continue to help this rebuilding team learn, too. And even if he’s not going to score much, Eriksson is at least capable of being a decent shutdown forward for next season.

Expectations for next season

For Eriksson, expectations won’t increase nor decrease in 2018-19. At this stage of his career, the Canucks can expect around 10-15 goals and approximately 30 points. Unless general manager Jim Benning buys Eriksson out or sends him to another team for a comparable contract, the 33-year-old will be here in 2018-19.

The Canucks would be better off exploring a buyout in two years from now, when the cap hit penalties decrease by a good margin. So if anything else, expect Eriksson to be in Vancouver for the fourth year of his deal.

Vancouver’s best bet is to keep using Eriksson in a penalty killing role, and to see if he can front a productive shutdown line. It would help immensely if Jay Beagle could return to his old Washington Capitals form and also bring the strong defensive play that helped his old club win the Stanley Cup in 2019.

Coach Green just has to keep trying different shutdown line combinations until he fines one that clicks for Eriksson. The Canucks are going to give their responsibilities to the young players next season, so you can forget about Eriksson getting more time in the top six or on the power play. That ship has sailed.

Eriksson won’t be the big-time goal-scorer Vancouver thought they were paying for, but if all goes right, he can find other ways to earn some of the money while helping this team get back into the playoffs.