The Minnesota Wild report cards have reached the final three players, and now it’s time for Joel Eriksson Ek, who is easily their best two-way forward. He’s one of those players that’s easy to spot because he’s always working hard. He’s either in the offensive end getting pushed around by the opposing defense, or he’s in the defensive zone working hard to block shots and get the puck out of the zone.
He actually had a pretty decent season compared to his teammates, and we’ll explore that in this article. Since there was no postseason for the Wild, we’ll take a look at a rough part of Eriksson Ek’s game, a strong part, and come up with an overall grade. We’ll start with faceoff percentages and go from there.
Eriksson Ek Near Perfect
Regarding Eriksson Ek’s game, it’s really hard to pick a rough part of it. He can score goals, assist on them, block shots, throw hits, and win faceoffs. However, that last part about winning faceoffs can always be better. This area is one the Wild have struggled with nearly their entire existence, and they could use Eriksson Ek to turn that around.
He led the team with a 49.7 faceoff win percentage (FO%), but the top centers in the league had percentages in the high 50s, which is where the Wild should be, with at least one of their centers. Eriksson Ek is easily the best center they have, as Marco Rossi is still working his way up the ladder.
If they want to get back to the postseason, they have to find a way to win more faceoffs and score more goals, and that’s where Eriksson Ek comes in. While he’s found ways to succeed in nearly all aspects of his game, he could still improve his faceoffs. He may be the best on the Wild, but he still has a way to go in terms of league-wide. Hopefully, he can find a way to fine-tune his faceoffs and make his game nearly impossible to stop.
Eriksson Ek’s a 2-Way Player
Everyone who follows Eriksson Ek as a player knows he’s a great two-way player. That’s easily the best part of his game, including all of its aspects. He can score goals, as he was just one of two players to hit the 30-goal mark this past season for the Wild, with the other being Kirill Kaprizov. Eriksson Ek reached a career-high in points, with 64 and 21 of those being on the power play, where he also excelled.
Part of why he was so strong offensively was his ability to be a pest in front of the net. He found a way to get in both the opposing goaltender’s and defensemen’s faces. That allowed him to tip the puck or make room for his teammates to find a clear shot. The other part of his offensive game that helped him tally numbers was his 267 shots on goal. He wasn’t afraid to shoot when he could, and they’ll need him to continue that effort.
However, his strength wasn’t only his offensive game; it was also his defensive efforts. He was a big contributor in blocked shots with 55 and wasn’t afraid to throw his body around, which he did 168 times. While both of those stats are impressive, so were his 17 turnovers, which was very low compared to his very high number of takeaways at 37. If the Wild want to be successful they need Eriksson Ek to teach the entire team how to steal the puck.
Eriksson Ek’s Overall Grade
After looking at the rough and strong parts of Eriksson Ek’s game, he had a lot more good than bad. He is one of the players the Wild relies heavily on, and he did everything he could to push them into the postseason. The majority of his stats were improvements over past seasons, and that factored into his grade, which was a B.
Eriksson Ek always does what he can to improve himself and his team, and that was also a big part of his grade. When the Wild were missing their associate captains, he stepped up and filled the void. His grade wasn’t higher because they missed the postseason, and as always, he has room to improve his game, especially in the faceoff department. On the other hand his grade wasn’t lower because he was one of their best players and did what he could in every area.
Related: Joel Eriksson Ek Is the Wild’s Prized Possession
Hopefully, Eriksson Ek can find a way to win more faceoffs, which will help other areas of the Wild. It’ll be interesting to see how he can step up his game for this coming season and if the Wild can return to the postseason.
