Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek has landed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury he sustained in yesterday’s practice, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. He’s been ruled out for a week as a result but will be out “a lot longer” than that, according to Russo. Left-winger Jakub Lauko will be activated off injured reserve in a corresponding move. The team later confirmed Eriksson Ek sustained a lower-body injury and has been given a week-to-week designation.
Injuries just won’t stop piling up for Minnesota. They’re now without their All-Star scorer, Kirill Kaprizov, and their top minute-munching center, Eriksson Ek, for the foreseeable future. The former was initially expected to return around the trade deadline after undergoing lower-body surgery late last month. However, general manager Bill Guerin said last weekend that he’s likely to blow past his four-to-six-week return target and won’t be back in the lineup until later in March at the earliest.
It remains to be seen how much longer Eriksson Ek will be sidelined beyond Minnesota’s next four games in seven days. Each game is crucial for the Wild, who still have a 97.7% chance of making the playoffs (per MoneyPuck), but that number undoubtedly takes a marginal hit without Eriksson Ek’s services. Luckily for them, only four out of their next 10 games are against teams currently in playoff position. Less fortunately, two of those four games are against the Avalanche – the team with the best chance of knocking Minnesota out of third place in the Central Division. The Wild still have a four-point cushion on the Avs with two fewer games played, though, so they would require a serious slide to lose their divisional berth.
Eriksson Ek has already had an injury-plagued campaign. He missed a pair of contests in October with a nasal fracture and has since missed 13 total games with lower-body injuries. Sources tell Russo it’s a lower-body issue keeping him sidelined again this time, although it’s unclear if it’s related to his previous absences. As a result, his offensive production has deteriorated. He’s managed 9-15–24 through 42 appearances, a 47-point pace over 82 games. That comes on the heels of back-to-back 60-point showings for the Swedish center, who notched a career-high 30 goals and 64 points in 77 games for the Wild in 2023-24.
For as long as Eriksson Ek is out, 23-year-old pivot Marco Rossi is Minnesota’s undisputed No. 1 center. For most of this season, he’s skated on the “top” line alongside Kaprizov (when healthy). However, he doesn’t see penalty kill usage like Eriksson Ek and has thus averaged 1:26 less ice time per game in all situations. The latter’s injury surely takes the developing Rossi out of any trade conversations – even if Guerin was planning to leverage the pending RFA in a blockbuster, they can’t afford to lose him now. He’s tied for the team lead in assists (29) and ranks third in goals (20) and points (49).
The center group behind Rossi is uninspiring. Ryan Hartman has spent most of this season on the wing but has played a lot of center for the Wild in the past. He likely would have been their top choice to shift into top-six minutes in lieu of Eriksson Ek, but he, too, has been ruled out for the next four games after having his initial 10-game suspension for roughing Ottawa’s Tim Stützle before the 4 Nations break reduced to eight upon appeal by commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday. As things stand, Frédérick Gaudreau, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Lauko, who’s taken less than 30 faceoffs over his three-year NHL career, will anchor Minnesota’s other three lines.
Regarding Lauko, the 24-year-old has been limited to 33 appearances this season with a recurring lower-body issue, believed to be a muscle strain. He last suited up on Feb. 4 against his former team, the Bruins, and missed the final three games before the break. He’s made just 12 appearances since Thanksgiving.