SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher tonight announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled forward Joel Eriksson Ek (pronounced JUHL AIR-ihk-suhn EHK) from Farjestad BK in the Swedish Elite League.
Eriksson Ek, 20 (1/29/97), recorded five points (2-3=5), a plus-2 rating and averaged 10:07 in TOI/game in nine games with Minnesota before being reassigned to Farjestad BK on Nov. 17, 2016. The 6-foot-2, 197-pound native of Karlstad, Sweden, became the seventh player in Wild history to score a goal in his NHL debut on Oct. 22 at New Jersey and tied a rookie franchise record with three assists and a plus-3 rating on Oct. 25 at Boston. He also tallied a power-play goal in his only game with Iowa in the American Hockey League (AHL) on Oct. 18 vs. Grand Rapids.
Eriksson Ek recorded 16 points (8-8=16), a plus-4 rating and 12 penalty minutes (PIM) in 26 games with Farjestad BK and ranked second on the team in PPG (five) and sixth in TOI/game at 17:46. He added six points (3-3=6) including two PPG in seven playoff games in the Swedish Elite League. Eriksson Ek led the team in PPG and hits (18) and ranked T-1st in goals and points. He recorded nine points (6-3=9) in seven games serving as captain for Sweden at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. Eriksson Ek ranked T-2nd in the tournament with two GWG and a plus-8 rating, third in goals, seventh in scoring and eighth in shots on goals (24).
He was selected by the Wild in the first round (20th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and wears sweater No. 14 with Minnesota.