Many around the State of Hockey have already begun to pencil in 2015 1st round pick Joel Eriksson-Ek to the opening day lineup for the Minnesota Wild. But with a poor showing at the Traverse City Tournament, is he ready for NHL level competition?
One of the biggest and most popular questions about the Minnesota Wild this summer is the whether or not young Swedish prospect and 2015 first round selection Joel Eriksson-Ek will make the Wild’s opening day roster? It certainly looks like the organization is open to the idea and has even made sure to keep their roster and salary structure in a place to facilitate that possibility. But still the most important question that overrides anything else should be is he ready to play in the NHL?
It’s a fair question considering that he’s only 19 years old and has really just come into his current weight and size recently. To this point Eriksson-Ek has been solid and excelled at every level he’s been at. This summer at USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp he was widely considered the best player for Sweden with three points in four games as the team’s captain.
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Additionally, he had a very strong Wild Summer Development Camp and has impressed the Wild’s management. Head of Player Development Brad Bombardier explained in an interview during the last scrimmage that Eriksson-Ek had “showed up to camp as a man”, which was Bombardier’s way to explain that he had matured a lot physically and mentally over the last year since the 2015 draft.
So it was pretty fair to say that the team was high on the young Swede and had a good enough sample size to make the conclusion that he might make the NHL squad. But there’s one flaw in that measuring stick, the competition he was up against was prospect/junior level and the team he’s try to make is the top professional league in the world. That might explain why the Traverse City Tournament has been a little rough for him.
In three games played Eriksson-Ek has no points and is sitting at a minus three. He’s getting the minutes as the top line center, but thus far it has not yielded results. That could be attributed to the fact that many of the players at Traverse City are NHL ready or very close, and in some cases are veterans of a few AHL campaigns. So if he’s having issues with that level of competition, it stands to reason that he might not be ready for the level or two up from that which is the NHL.
Granted three games is a small sample size, but you’d expect that if he was NHL ready he’d be playing above the competition and posting serious points. Take high touted prospect Jimmy Vesey for the Rangers who torched the Wild for two goals in one game. Vesey is coming off of four years in the NCAA and showing he’s got the ability to score multiple goals in a game against this level of competition, it shows more potential to play a higher level if this level is not slowing him down.
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For Eriksson-Ek the case isn’t completely closed, but looks like he’s starting camp behind expectations and that’s not good. He still has a chance to prove himself, but his case is certainly weaker. The Wild must also be having some doubts on his ability to make the team as they signed Tomas Fleischmann to a PTO yesterday. And with Ryan Carter in camp on a PTO as well, Eriksson-Ek’s place may not be quite carved out.
In the end though it’s a good thing if he stays away from the NHL one more season for some maturation. At 19 he’s still got a lot of growth physically and mentally to do, so why rush him? I think Iowa is the perfect spot for him next season. He can learn the North American game in the AHL and continue his growth under supervision of the Wild staff who can steer him to success. Playing in Sweden for him next year is a step back, not forward. Playing in the NHL will be too much for the youngster who may excel against prospect/junior level competition but is struggling against higher competition.
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Still I think it’s only a matter of time before he’s a member of the big club in Minnesota. His attitude seems to insure he’ll do the right things to make it. As he explained to Mike Morreale of NHL.com “I play a two-way game and like to put the team first. I’ll always do my best and work hard. We’ll see after training camp what the plan will be but I’ll do whatever they feel is best for my development.” See even the kid isn’t in a rush, he just wants to do what’s best and that most likely is not playing in the NHL this season.