Mlotek
Registered User
Ericsson was actually an acceptable pairing for Kronwall. He was optimally a top 4D at the time he signed the 6x4.25, which is right in that ballpark. He wasn't a great top pairing D by any far cry... but Kronwall-Ericsson was actually not a bad top pairing. Probably because Kronwall was a far better D than he is usually given credit for though. Jonathan Ericsson should not have gotten 6x4.25 when he did. But I could see the gamble that they took and why they did. When Kronner-Ericsson was the top pairing, Ericsson wasn't worth much less than 4.25 if you don't want to admit that he was worth that much. He was a top 4 defensive D.
At that time offensive D-man were getting 5-6 million a year (30-40 point range).
Ericsson was never an offensive d-man unless we are count deflecting pucks into his own net as offense.
E signed extension in fall of 2013, during the 12-13 season he was averaging 21:19 which put him 2nd behind only Kronwall. So in terms of negotiations he was a 'top pairing' D in terms of his usage.
Some of the D FAs that signed that summer (2013):
Ference 3.25M by 4 years
Scuderi 3.375 by 4 (21:47)
Hainsey 2x1 (22:52)
A very weak class, unless I am missing some major D UFA that summer.
A couple extensions that happened around time E signed extension.
Seidenberg 4x4 (23:48)
Hjalmarsson 4.1x5 (20:54)
Emelin 4.1x4 (19:40)
Robin Regehr 3x2 (19:25) *Right acquired and extended before free agency
Bouwmeester 5.4x5 (24:38)
If you look at some of the D that were signing at that time, whether that deal is worth it depends how you value Ericsson at that time.
Was he as good as Seidenburg, Hjalmarsson, Regehr, Hainsey, Ference, Scuderi at that time? In my mind no.
If you evaluated him at or near those players than the deal was 'okay' at that time.
If you evaluated him above those players than you might even consider it a 'steal' (not sure who'd admit to that). But keep in mind he was getting TOP minutes in Detroit at that time.
If you legit projected Ericsson to be a TOP D for years to come, you might even consider that contract on the cheap side.
Ignoring E playing top minutes, in my mind he woulda been worth around 3-3.5 million on FA market. Taking into account the minutes he was playing, its easy to see why that cap hit would have been up to the 4.25 when signed.