Minnesota Wild heart Joel Eriksson Ek shared that he’ll bear core muscle surgical procedure subsequent week throughout his end-of-season media availability, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Eriksson Ek added that he had been taking part in via the damage on the finish of the season. It’s unclear if that is linked to the lower-body damage that held the 28-year-old out of twenty-two video games between February and April. He additionally famous that this surgical procedure shouldn’t affect his readiness for coaching camp subsequent season.
Offseason surgical procedure will proceed the unhealthy luck of an injury-riddled season into the summer season. Eriksson Ek suffered numerous accidents over the course of the yr, together with a damaged nostril and a number of lower-body accidents. In complete he appeared in simply 46 video games – a brand new profession low. Eriksson Ek was nonetheless reliably impactful when he was wholesome, netting 14 objectives and 29 factors – an 82-game tempo of 25 objectives and 52 factors. These numbers would nonetheless fall wanting the 30 objectives and 64 factors Eriksson Ek posted final season, although his scoring via damage was nonetheless spectacular. He additionally remained a focus within the defensive zone and ranked fifth on the staff’s forwards in hits-per-game – amongst these to play not less than 20 video games in Minnesota.
Minnesota discovered a silver lining within the play of Marco Rossi whereas Eriksson Ek was out. Rossi took a serious stride ahead this yr, netting 24 objectives and 60 factors whereas taking part in in all 82 video games for a second-straight season. That features a red-hot streak throughout Eriksson Ek’s absence when the calendar turned over. Rossi scored 36 factors in 51 video games between Dec. 1 and March 31. That was the second-highest on the staff throughout that stretch – behind Matt Boldy’s 39 factors. Rossi appeared to have extra offense to present, and might be in retailer for a serious breakout season in 2025-26 after enhancing from the 40 factors he scored final season.
With Eriksson Ek sustaining a robust two-way affect in his wholesome video games, Minnesota may lastly land a top-two heart duo to treasure with a wave of excellent well being subsequent season. Eriksson Ek has confirmed constantly able to reaching 20 objectives and rivaling 50 or 60 factors. He’s managed that feat, or scored at an achievable tempo, in every of the final 5 seasons. He’s signed to a yearly cap hit of $5.25M via the 2027-28 season – an expiration date that Minnesota will certainly start sizing up together with his efficiency subsequent season.
