When Jordan Greenway was sent to the minor leagues by the Minnesota Wild earlier this season, he was struggling mightily to find any consistency in the offensive end. The Wild hoped a short stint in the AHL would help him find that scoring touch, and it resulted in Greenway recording his first goal of the season immediately after being recalled. Now the team is hoping for a similar result from Joel Eriksson Ek, who was recalled today from the AHL.
Eriksson Ek’s stay in the minors was a little longer than the one Greenway had to endure, but it may have done just the trick. The 21-year old forward scored four goals and six points in just five games for the Iowa Wild, amazingly more than he had in 27 for Minnesota. If that scoring spark can be carried over to the NHL level, perhaps the team will start to see the promise that made Eriksson Ek the 20th overall pick in 2015.
Ryan Murphy has been sent back to the minor leagues after just a few days to make room on the roster, an interesting decision that will leave the Wild with just six defensemen on the roster as they head into action tonight against the Boston Bruins. Murphy has played two games with Minnesota this month, but recorded a total of just over 19 minutes of ice time between them.