Headlines

  • Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration
  • Lyndon Byers Passes Away At 61
  • Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov
  • Mammoth Begin Extension Talks With Logan Cooley
  • Blues Pushing For Bowen Byram Trade
  • Hurricanes Sign Nikolaj Ehlers To Six-Year Deal
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Minnesota Wild Sign Joel Eriksson Ek

August 21, 2019 at 3:41 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

It’s hard to make a quicker first move than Bill Guerin just did. After officially being hired as the Minnesota Wild GM this afternoon, the team has already signed restricted free agent Joel Eriksson Ek to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1,487,500 and totals $2.975MM. Jokes aside, assistant GM Tom Kurvers who had been operating as interim GM, had likely worked out this contract with Eriksson Ek. The young forward will still be a restricted free agent when the deal expires, though he will have arbitration rights.

Eriksson Ek, 22, has long had tantalizing potential without much production to show for it. The 20th overall pick in 2015 routinely flashes the ability to be a solid top-nine forward and key contributor for the Wild, but still only has 37 points in 148 career NHL games. During his short stints in the minor leagues—amazingly just 18 games over three years—he has produced at a point-per-game pace and looked like the best player on the ice. But as soon as he is under the bright lights of an NHL rink things haven’t quite clicked.

That’s not to say they can’t. The Swedish forward only turned 22 in January and still has plenty of time to develop into the type of versatile two-way center the Wild have been waiting for. In fact, under new GM Bill Guerin he may get an even larger opportunity to do just that. The team recently committed to Mats Zuccarello in free agency, but there very well may be a turn towards youth and the future if the new GM doesn’t believe they’re ready to contend as currently built. Eriksson Ek and fellow restricted free agent Kevin Fiala (who share the same agent) should be considered building blocks if the team wants to start a mini rebuild, or at least start taking responsibility away from aging veterans like Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Eric Staal.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Bill Guerin| Minnesota Wild Joel Eriksson Ek

Minor Transactions: 08/21/19
Main
Derick Brassard Signs With New York Islanders
View Comments (1)

Comments

  1. BN78

    6 years ago

    Good! They’ve spent enough time developing him and he started showing signs of improvement last season. Some of his skill doesn’t transfer into points for him, but it should soon. Also, he’s finally just about man sized and not getting pushed around as much.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration

    Lyndon Byers Passes Away At 61

    Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov

    Mammoth Begin Extension Talks With Logan Cooley

    Blues Pushing For Bowen Byram Trade

    Hurricanes Sign Nikolaj Ehlers To Six-Year Deal

    Sharks Sign Dmitry Orlov, Claim Nick Leddy

    Islanders Sign Maxim Shabanov

    Blues Waive Nick Leddy

    Nikolaj Ehlers Expected To Sign Today

    Recent

    Capitals Sign Hendrix Lapierre To One-Year Deal

    Sharks Interested In Adding Top-Nine Winger

    Mark Letestu Named Head Coach of AHL’s Colorado Eagles

    Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration

    Lyndon Byers Passes Away At 61

    Golden Knights Looking To Trade Ben Hutton

    Kraken Re-Sign Tye Kartye

    Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov

    Capitals Notes: Milano, Free Agency, McMichael, Goaltending

    Canucks Have Started Extension Talks With Kiefer Sherwood

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2025’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents
    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Pick Tracker 2025
    • Key Offseason Dates
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version