12/6: According to a team announcement, the Wild have placed Eriksson Ek on injured reserve as expected. His placement on the team’s injured reserve will likely be made retroactive to December 4th.
12/4: Depth is becoming an important factor for the best team in the league. This afternoon, the Minnesota Wild issued multiple injury updates regarding the status of Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, Mats Zuccarello, and Jakub Lauko.
The organization confirmed the earlier report from Michael Russo of The Athletic stating that top center Eriksson Ek would be considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. If there’s one area of weakness Minnesota could enhance via the trade market, it would be their center depth. The Wild have managed a 1-1-1 record in the three games Eriksson Ek has already missed this season and they will now have to rely on Marco Rossi as their first-line middleman.
Rossi is adequate for this role but it thins out behind him. Minnesota will deploy a rotation of Frederick Gaudreau, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Ben Jones to center the remaining three lines which isn’t typically the quality seen from first-place teams.
The Wild could gauge the trade market for a center depending on the severity of Eriksson Ek’s injury. Minnesota already swung one of the season’s biggest trades when they acquired David Jiříček from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadiens comes to mind as a rental piece with playoff experience that would boost Minnesota’s depth down the middle.
The remaining injury updates didn’t have any surprises. Brodin and Zuccarello are still considered week-to-week with their respective injuries while Lauko is only on a day-to-day basis. Brodin and Lauko are on the team’s injured reserve while Zuccarello and his $4.125MM salary are on the long-term injured reserve. Still, with six out of their next 10 games against opponents currently positioned for a playoff spot, the Wild’s depth will surely be tested.
The Jets are the best team in the league, Then Washington. The Wild will eventually fade, And likely get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
God bless you Wilf. It’s good to have you back. You rarely make sense but you do it with supreme confidence.
11/4 and 11/6? You mean 12/4 and 12/6, I presume?
@Amtrekman13 — Now I know why Mr. Peabody and Sherman were spotted in the neighborhood with “that look”. Seems like @Brennan snatched the keys to the WABAC machine when they weren’t looking. :)
Today’s useless trivia: The WABAC is an acronym for Wormhole Activating and Bridging Automatic Computer. I, for one, think the more NHL teams should ditch analytics and hook up the WABAC machine.
@Jess the trip — A good idea, if not for Peabody having a reaction to his distemper shots. :) He’s even giving Sherman that look now.