Going into the draft, the Minnesota Wild obviously had targeted Joel Eriksson Ek to fulfil a need for a center.
It’s unlikely that the Wild back-office staff had expectations of acquiring an elite goalscorer; his numbers in the Swedish league, the SHL put paid to that theory. Including the time he played over there after being drafted, he had a 0.35 points-per-game record; a low scoring rate even in a league that produces some elite defensemen.
Upon eventually departing his home country, Eriksson Ek was given a game with the Iowa Wild and a fifteen game audition with the Minnesota Wild, notching seven points and adding his first three NHL play-off appearances to cap a nice start to his North American career.