The Minnesota Wild have spent the offseason chasing a No. 1 center, but that search shouldn’t swallow up Joel Eriksson Ek in the process.
Eriksson Ek has been a fixture in Minnesota’s top six for years, and his value only became clearer when he missed the entire series against the Colorado Avalanche in last year’s playoffs. Now, as the Wild open the 2026-27 season, he’s become even more essential to what they’re trying to build.
Through Tuesday night’s matchup against the Utah Mammoth, Eriksson Ek had three goals and 10 points in the first 13 games. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but they don’t tell the full story. At times, he has also helped drive a highly productive superline with Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, giving Minnesota a meaningful share of its offense.
Wild fans already know what Eriksson Ek brings. If the front office eventually finds help down the middle, his impact could grow even more.
Taken 20th overall by Minnesota in the 2015 draft, Eriksson Ek has delivered the kind of steady production and edge the Wild have come to rely on. In 627 career games over 11 seasons, he has 158 goals, 202 assists and 360 points.
A lot of that production has come from his work around the crease, where his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame helps him create deflections, tip-ins and rebounds. He also brings the kind of relentless effort that fits Minnesota’s gritty identity.
His value isn’t confined to offense, either. John Hynes has used him alongside Boldy in recent seasons as part of a shutdown line against opponents’ top offensive players, and that role has helped Eriksson Ek collect Selke Trophy votes in each of the past six seasons. He has finished in the top 10 four times and placed 12th last season.
That two-way usefulness has made him a regular on both the penalty kill and the power play, and a player the coaching staff trusts in just about every situation. Hynes pointed to that competitiveness during last year’s first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.
“When you look at the way he plays, there’s not one aspect of the game from a competitive aspect that he falters in,” Hynes told Sarah McLellan of The Minnesota Star Tribune. “He’ll block shots.
He’ll hit. He’ll take a hit to make a play.
He’ll get to the net. He’ll take a punch without retaliating.
He’ll block a shot. You name it.
He’s got second and third efforts on pucks. That’s what he is.”
Eriksson Ek is also helping Minnesota in a problem area, winning 53.6 percent of his faceoffs. That matters now, and it could matter even more if the Wild land a center such as Dylan Larkin.
In that scenario, Larkin would likely take over a top line with Kaprizov and Maxim Shabanov, while Eriksson Ek would move into a second-line role with Boldy and Blake Coleman. That would give the Wild the scoring depth they’ve struggled to find this season, and it could also help Eriksson Ek improve his finishing. His 6.8 percent shooting percentage is well below his career mark of 10 percent.
That’s a big reason Minnesota keeps pressing, even with Larkin’s current team, the Detroit Red Wings, described as a complete mess. It’s also why Eriksson Ek deserves the attention he’s getting early this season, with the possibility that his importance only grows from here.
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Kirill Kaprizov Has The Wild Looking Dangerous Again
Kirill Kaprizov keeps making the Wild look like a team that can score in bunches and carry it against good opponents, and he did it again in a 3-1 win over the Utah Mammoth. Minnesota got goals from Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov as well, while Jesper Wallstedt backed it up with 26 saves and the club pushed its winning streak to three straight.
Logan Cooleys goal briefly kept Utah in the mix, but the bigger takeaway for Minnesota is how complete the stretch has started to look. The Wild are finding offense from multiple lines and getting enough goaltending to turn close games into results, which is exactly what they needed as this road swing winds down. [Read more 🡒]
Kirill Kaprizov Has The Wild Dreaming About A Bigger Race Again
Kirill Kaprizov has given the Wild exactly the sort of start they were hoping to see after a summer of changes around him. Minnesota let Mats Zuccarello walk in free agency and pushed Kaprizov toward a more downhill approach, hoping to get him closer to the net and into more direct scoring chances. Early in the 2026-27 season, that plan has looked pretty sharp, with Kaprizov once again driving the offense and putting himself right back in the leagues most valuable-player conversation.
The bigger question for Minnesota is how long this pace can last, and whether it can survive the kind of regression that usually comes for hot shooting stretches. Kaprizovs current numbers have the Wild dreaming about a bigger race again, especially after the start he had in 2024-25 before injury changed the shape of that season. For a team that has spent years looking for a true ceiling raiser, this is the kind of early momentum that can change the mood around the room in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]