Reviews: TOTW Edler and TOTW Eriksson

These cards were both releases on the defensive team of the week and are primarily valuable because of their excellent synergies: Eriksson provides 2T and DR, and Edler provides 2SB and T. This means between the two of them, you will get 5 points toward valuable team synergies. Because of these two cards, I was able to move from 4 team synergies to 5.

Both cards are 87 overall and can be found relatively inexpensively. I snagged Eriksson for 9 or 10k I believe and Edler for around 15k.

TOTW ERIKSSON: LW, Left handed

Linemates (3rd line): Eriksson - 89 Kesler - 88 Kucherov

Stats: 12 gp - 3 goals, 4 assists

Skating: 8/10 Eriksson's skating is inconsistent. He does not have blaring breakaway speed, but he is elusive: his agility with CG and SB activated becomes 96. I have slipped by defenders several times for 2 on 1's or breakaways despite him not having Duchene-tier speed. He is not slow either - just average. At 6'2 and 200lbs, he isn't a wimp on the puck either. I have no issues with the overall skating performance of this card for a 3rd liner, maybe a 2nd liner.

Shot: 6.5/10 His card has 86's across the board in all shooting stats. I have 1T activated, so his slapshot gets a bit of a boost - but his wrister seems quite weak. The goals I have scored with him have been backhand cheese or tap ins - no nice wristers or slappers/clappers. Overall, not a dangerous shooter. He has to be in the right place in order to be a dangerous goal scoring threat.

Puck skills: 8/10 His puck skills are much better than his shot. His passing is quite good, he is strong on the puck, and is excellent in the cycle game. His loose puck dekes aren't anything to write home about - this is more of a cycle, puck-protection player than a speedy dangler. But you knew that.

Defense: 8.5/10 This is where Eriksson shines. With SB, T, and DR active, he is an excellent shut-down winger and penalty killer. His stick checking rating ends up being 95 with T and DR active, and it shows. Combined with his long reach and 99 discipline (with T active), stick lifts actually work - and rarely end up causing a hooking penalty.

Overall: 8/10 - excellent 3rd line shutdown winger with some of the best defensive synergies available on a cheap TOTW card!

TOTW EDLER: LD, Left handed

3rd D pair: MOV Ekblad

Skating: 7/10 Edler is not a quick guy, despite his decent 88 speed rating. With SB and CG active, his agility rating is 93 which helps him respond to small quick forwards... but don't get burned on those corners! You'll have to play your angles. He tends to fade quite quickly in long shifts, but if you keep his shifts short, don't go chasing Gaudreaus around, and don't get hemmed in your own zone, his skating won't hold you back. He is a big guy 4 u, at 6'3 220, so when you do catch someone... you normally win that battle (more below).

Shooting: Inconsistent - 7.5/10 I have scored 4 goals with Edler in 30 games. Each of those goals was a ridiculously powerful slapper from the point that the goalie had no chance on. However, most of the time, his shot is low and right into the pads. Accuracy sucks, power is great. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with aiming but I feel like I wish I could get his shot to be more consistent! He is definitely a decent option on your 3rd pairing for one-timers from the point, even if he is no Redden.

Puck Skills: 6/10 Get the puck off his stick asap... not really fast, not great puck control. He isn't a liability so long as you move the puck.

Defense: 8.5/10 Better checking than his 85 rating suggests. I knock smaller forwards around with him easily if you play the angle right. His stick checking is a disappointing 86 rating, but this gets boosted with T activated. I find his AI positioning to be quite good actually. He is best used in a collapsing formation rather than a hyper-aggressive "high pressure" system as he tends to get exploited more easily when chasing.

Overall: 7/10 I would not use him but for his synergies. His synergies are simply fantastic! At first I hated the card, but I've come to make up for his deficiencies with better positional play and quick passing. I think this is worth it in order to get the 3 team synergy points from such a cheap card.

Conclusion These cards together will give you 5 team synergy points and 2 decent depth players for less than 30k coins!

Thanks for reading.