Yeah, it ended up being a bad gamble on Holland's part. I think this was a case where he thought Ericsson would improve dramatically like Kronwall did and the contract would seem like a steal. A defenseman his size putting up 25+ points a season making $4.25 million would have been great. Too bad he'll never live up to it.
He is still hated on far too much though. Yes his o-side is lacking but no one ever expected him to put up points. He is a leading pk'r. He is also a good 2nd pairing guy. The problem is that he in no way shape or form belongs on a 1st pairing. But due to the fact that top 2 guys are pretty much never available barring very few scenario's often which are acted upon too quickly by other teams with aggresive gm's are always moved before we can even begin to enter negotiations with.
The one really good thing about him is that now with the way that top 4 d salaries have gone and continue to do so he is underpaid. The average top 4 d as of this past offseason is clocking in contracts at around 5.5 million per year. And from this point forward those contracts are going to increase between .25-.5 per year as well. So he is coming in at a 1.25 discount per year.
Ideally we can sign a player worthy of first pairing duties to shift down the need but lets be honest the only player this year if he even makes it to ufa is Byuglien. Shattenkirk if I remember correctly is under contract for 1 more year after this year.
Also if DDK-Big rig continue as a pairing we have our first capable shut down pairing since Kronner-Stuart. The stat nazi's will still hate on it. Due to being outshot when they are on the ice and all but they take the hardest quality of opposition in the defensive end so they won't ever look like possession darlings ever.
