ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Wild first-line center Joel Eriksson Ek was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday with a lower-body injury, and the team announced his status as week-to-week.
Eriksson Ek felt discomfort following practice on Monday, coach John Hynes said. The Wild were still evaluating the extent of the injury, but Hynes said the ninth-year player would miss “a few weeks, for sure.”
The news was ill-timed for the banged-up Wild, who were in third place in the Central Division entering their game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
Star left wing Kirill Kaprizov, who had surgery on Jan. 31 to address a lingering lower-body injury, was out for the 20th time in the last 23 games. The Wild announced this week that Kaprizov, who is still expected to return at some point during the regular season, will be sidelined longer than initially believed.
Center Ryan Hartman is midway through an eight-game suspension from the NHL for roughing, eligible to return next week.
“You can only control what you can control, and we’ve shown this year that we have a next-man-up mentality,” Hynes said.
Eriksson Ek, who had 30 goals and 64 points last season to establish career highs, missed 15 games over different stints earlier this season to injuries. Forward Jakub Lauko returned from injury to replace Eriksson Ek on the roster.
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