Minnesota Wild sign Joel Eriksson Ek to eight year deal
The Minnesota Wild have put pen to paper on an eight-year deal with forward Joel Eriksson Ek, according to Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports.
The deal carries a cap hit of $5.25 million and will expire when Eriksson Ek is 32 years old.
The #MNWild re-signed 24 y/o RFA C Eriksson-Ek to 8 year $5.25M Cap Hit deal. Covers 5 UFA seasons.
-19G 30P in 56 GP
-On ice 62.7% 5v5 GF, 56.9% DFF (+8.3% rel team), 49.2% Corsi (4.2% rel)
-Scored 1.78 5v5 P/60
Rep'd by Claude Lemieux @4sportshockey https://t.co/PGXkZRJSy9
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 2, 2021
Eriksson Ek scored a career-high 19 goals this past season, and he also finished fourth in Selke trophy voting.
This past season, he was stellar at both ends of the ice.
Joel Eriksson Ek is the most underrated player in the league. It sometimes feels like the Wild don’t fully realize how good he is. pic.twitter.com/vej8TaflBK
— EvolvingWild (@EvolvingWild) July 2, 2021
Minnesota is banking on Eriksson Ek continuing to develop into one of the game’s elite two-way forwards with this contract. If that proves to be the case, this could turn into one of the best-looking contracts around the league in the coming years.