Joel Eriksson Ek is off to a hot start this season with eight goals and 14 points. His eight goals — four at even-strength and four on the power play — lead the Wild right now, and his 14 points (tied with Kirill Kaprizov) is behind only Mats Zuccarello at 15.
Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello and Kaprizov are the only three Wild players who have scored at a point-per-game rate through the first 14 games this season. Eriksson Ek has three goals in the past four games, and his latest goal against the Buffalo Sabres Friday was extra noteworthy with it being his 100th career goal.
With 7:33 left Friday in Buffalo, Eriksson Ek, at the side of the net, one-timed Kaprizov’s cross-slot feed past Sabres’ rookie goalie Devon Levi glove side.
It’s fitting that Eriksson Ek’s first NHL goal was at even-strength (Oct. 22, 2016) and his 100th marker came on the power play as he’s always been a strong defensive, five-on-five player — but he’s evolved into an all-situations force and one of the NHL’s top two-way centers.
NowEriksson Ek is one of 11 players who have reached the 100-goal mark in franchise history.
The other 10 players to do so in a Wild sweater are Marian Gaborik (219), Mikko Koivu (205), Zach Parise (199), Jason Zucker (132), Kaprizov (119), Andrew Brunette (119), Eric Staal (111), Nino Niederreiter (110), Jared Spurgeon (110) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (106).
Eriksson Ek’s trajectory continues to rise, and he looks destined to finish this season even better than the last one, where he scored 23 goals and had a career-high 61 points and finished top-10 in Selke Trophy voting for the third time in his NHL career.
The 26-year-old is in the third year of the eight-year contract extension he signed on July 2, 2021, and continues to be one of the Wild’s most valuable players.