Sebastian Erixon, Unhappy in Chicago?

Canucks prospect Sebastian Erixon, signed last spring after a break-out season with Timrå of the SEL, is unhappy in Chicago according to unnamed sources who spoke with Dagbladet, a newspaper in Sundsvall. To make the matter even more dicey, the team’s sports director Kent Norberg is actively talking to the press about "welcoming" the diminutive two-way defenseman back "with open arms."

According to Dagbladet’s sources, Sebastian Erixon’s frustration is the result of limited ice-time, and a sense of alienation. Erixon, who won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships with the Tre Kronor in 2009, came into his own with Timrå last year, scoring five goals and recording twenty points in forty-four appearances. So far with the Chicago Wolves he’s posted one assist in nine games, and has been a healthy scratch four times.

Says Jon Häggqvist, a sports reporter with Allehande, a newspaper in Örnsköldsvik (home of the Sedin twins and Naslund), "There’s not much smoke, but it’s something. Timrå is dead last in the SEL and they’re struggling; mostly because their defense is really bad. Clearly, they need Erixon. I’m pretty sure Vancouver wouldn’t release him from his contract, but perhaps he could be loaned back to Timrå for the rest of the season? That’s just hypothetical though."

There was some excitement at Canucks Army this summer about the Sebastian Erixon signing. Certainly we had hoped that he’d be another Tanev/Lack quality "diamond in the rough" find for the team. Frankly, most of this seems like bluster from a desperate hockey club in Timrå, and Erixon has not made any formal "signals" of reciprocated interest as of yet. Still, reports that Erixon is struggling and unhappy in Chicago are undeniably troubling. Could the Canucks become the second Western Canadian team to get burned by a Swedish defender named Erixon this year?