NHL Trade Rumors: Should Detroit Red Wings Keep or Trade Jonathan Ericsson

As the trade deadline looms on Feb. 27th, there have been a multitude of rumors and speculations on what Red Wings' GM Ken Holland has up his sleeve.

In the past off-season Holland re-negotiated Jonathan Ericsson’s contract, which gave the defenseman $1.25 million in 2010-11, to a whopping new three-year deal for $9.25 million or, if you prefer, $3.25 million a year.

With Brian Rafalski’s unexpected retirement at the end of last season, Holland was put in quite a pinch. He either needed to find another top four defenseman or have Ericsson move into that slot. Ericsson, however, was an unrestricted free agent.

Ericsson was signed to the new contract, with Holland stating that “His best years are ahead of him.” The contract also came with an expectation of a bigger role for Ericsson, whether that role be in the top four, on the power play or generally just playing at a higher level.  

With the addition of top four defenseman Ian White, Ericsson remained the fifth defenseman but expectations remained high.

Wings fans had been generally unimpressed with Ericsson at that point, making the big contract a hot-button issue. When all was said and done, however, the general consensus came to be a “Let’s see if he lives up to his contract” mentality.

My question now is; Has he? Has he lived up to the contract? Or could the same deal have been better served to a different defenseman?

Ericsson is a 27-year-old 6’4’’ 220 pound defenseman who was drafted with the last pick of the 2002 entry draft, 291^st overall.

His size is definitely a big advantage to an incessantly small Detroit lineup. He is in fact Detroit’s largest regularly starting defenseman. His play in the 2008-09 playoffs showed great promise, as he had eight points and a plus-nine rating; however, the next season proved to be unsatisfactory.

The 2009-10 season resulted in a disappointing 13 points, a minus-15 rating and 44 penalty minutes. The 2010-11 season did not see a grand improvement for Ericsson, with a 15-point total, a minus-eight rating and a team-leading 87 minutes spent in the box.

Only three-quarters into his first new contract season, Ericsson’s stats surmise to 9 points with a plus-14 rating and 45 penalty minutes—second on the team.  His play, while improving, still lacks consistency, and the amount of mistakes and turnovers is still hard to ignore.

Is better good enough, or is it too little too late?

CapGeek.com puts the Red Wings as having $24.6 million in cap space at the trade deadline, barring no moves beforehand. So they certainly do not need the cap space.

There is, however, the ever-present threat that Nick Lidstrom might retire, which means the Wings are always in need of a quality defenseman. Trading for a more talented defenseman like UFA Ryan Suter, who is making nearly the same money a year as Ericsson, may prove beneficial.

Keep or trade? I leave the question up to you in the poll.

Tell me your thoughts in the comment box below.