By Kalisha Turnipseed -
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin wants the Wild to maintain its identity as a gritty team. Guerin wants to model his team after the Florida Panthers, who just won the Stanley Cup. However, the Wild lack the personnel and size to play like the Panthers.
The Wild would create a new buzz by making Joel Eriksson Ek captain. They would be messaging to the rest of the world that they are made to last under pressure because of Eriksson Ek's relentless work ethic and determination. Minnesota will thrive playing a two-way style that allows them to carry out an aggressive forecheck to disrupt breakouts and transition up the middle for shots with created screens.
Due to their lack of overall size, the Wild won't thrive as a cycling team. However, they can transition the puck and set up for screens and deflections. The forechecking will revolve around Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Foligno, and hopefully Matt Boldy, who can develop more toughness.
Eriksson Ek can take a break from playing center and assist Marco Rossi and Kirill Kaprizov as a wing to help Rossi take the next step as a player. Eriksson Ek gives Rossi a true power forward to develop his game further due to Eriksson Ek playing the style Guerin wants. Eriksson Ek is the kind of player Florida targets. The Wild should turn Eriksson Ek into their centerpiece for this season by making him captain.
He had his first 30-goal season, and they shouldn't take him off the top line just because he isn't flashy with the puck like Boldy. At 23, Boldy has room to grow his game modeling after Eriksson Ek. Still, Boldy isn't the right mentor to help Rossi bring more intensity when the Wild go up against bigger teams like the Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, and Nashville Predators. Eriksson Ek’s playing style will create more consistency for Rossi than Boldy's finesse style. Rossi might not become a consistent 30-goal scorer like Eriksson Ek's turning out to be but count on assists just from getting pucks on net from the perimeter off Rossi’s stick.
Eriksson Ek becoming captain would spell the end of Jared Spurgeon's tenure as captain for the Wild. Spurgeon’s teammates respect him, but he isn't the kind of captain Eriksson Ek can be. Eriksson Ek can lead the Wild, much like Aleksander Barkov did for Florida. However, the Panthers still needed to bring in Tkachuk for more toughness. Eriksson Ek brings more toughness to the game than Barkov since he takes more beatings in front of the net that get uncalled by the referees.
Did trading for Jakub Lauko show that the Wild are building around Eriksson Ek? The Wild got a restricted free agent (RFA) in exchange for Vinni Lettieri, who's expected to play bottom-six minutes. Can he help the Wild bring a consistent spark every night with their energy? Can he bring a little more depth than Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime? Lauko can learn how to play a gritty game from Eriksson Ek.
As a center, Lauko allows Eriksson Ek to play wing on the top line. The Wild can make more center depth by letting Lauko be a bottom-six center. But that’s only one element of creating a contender from scratch. Eriksson Ek will bring his new role to the power play to increase his scoring numbers. Will he be able to score 40 goals? That may be a tall order, but no one saw Eriksson Ek scoring 30 goals until he did last year.
The Wild signed Yakov Trenin to a four-year contract so that Eriksson Ek remains on the top line while Trenin takes on a shutdown role involving penalty-killing minutes. Trenin plays a similar style to Eriksson Ek, especially as an experienced center.
Eriksson Ek's captaincy should be a sign of change. Guerin would invest in building a winning culture by making Eriksson Ek captain. He would officially succeed Mikko Koivu as his replacement, and Eriksson Ek was drafted to be just that. Will he get his jersey retired? That has yet to be determined. If Eriksson Ek leads the Wild to a Cup, they should consider retiring his No. 14 alongside Kaprizov’s No. 97.
Eriksson Ek needs to be captain and play wing. The Wild can improve by making internal changes to their system. They need to be more creative by making the Wild more versatile than before. Eriksson Ek playing permanently with Kaprizov makes Kaprizov’s game better. Still, the Wild must invest in Rossi’s future by playing with Eriksson Ek. They must continue establishing a core, and Eriksson Ek gets to lead that core to victory.
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