No, Ek isn't available

That's an easy no for Minnesota.

If you call Bill Guerin and even mention the the idea of Eriksson Ek and don’t even start with one of Simon Nemec, Luke Hughes, or Dawson Mercer then don’t expect that call to last longer than most men in bed.. like 30 seconds max. & that’s just to hear Guerin laughing

I like it, and agree with it, just wanted to add that Dawson Mercer shouldn't be included with the other two. I mean a 1st and Mercer wouldn't get laughed at, but it also wouldn't get the job done either.

You probably got the message by now, but you couldn't pry Ek from Guerin cold dead hand. He plays the game exactly how Guerin believes the game should be played.

Must of missed the part where Luke was of consideration here in regards to a Joel Eriksson-Ek trade.

Ekker's isn't getting moved unless Jack is coming back the other way.

Did you guys notice OP put JEE as their 2LW and not even playing center? 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I think 10th OV and Mercer is a strong offer that would be considered

It really wouldn't. That leaves an absolutely gaping hole in the Wild's roster that they can't possibly fill. The main issue with that is Kaprizov is a UFA in a couple years, so they can't take a step back while they're trying to convince him there's a path forward here.

I'd agree with the logic if they were close to winning but I don't see the wild winning with their current core its the 2010 teams all over again. Tear it down rebuild to win not compete

Flames decline easily

What do you consider the Wild’s core?

Wild fan here. As much as I hate giving up EK, I'd make a trade if these 3 pieces were involved. Ryan Hartman absolutely Sucks. He should've never been resigned. To get rid of him makes the roster better. But Billy Boy loves Hartman. Proof how much Guerin sucks. There is no vision. Wasting Kaprizov's talent. The idiot got rid of a solid D man in Kulikov. Trades for 37 year old Pat Maroon. 103 points 2 year ago. A monkey could do better than that meathead.

Kaprizov Eriksson Ek Boldy and Faber going forward. I think they're better off trading guys like Ek and Kaprizov and building around Faber Boldy Yurov Heidt Rossi etc plus whatever they get for their vets

Nah, you don’t trade Kaprizov unless he asks out. Eriksson Ek isn’t going anywhere.

Devils have won the same amount of playoff rounds as the wild in the last decade only difference is the devils are seen as future contenders the wild are not.

Damn, I tried to edit my post to be a little calmer and failed cause you’re so quick!

I don’t see the point in trade guys who just turned 27 years old. The younger core will be breaking in while older core is still in their prime. That’s the perfect circumstance to be in. Trading 30+ year old vets I would agree with you. Guys like Zucc/Foligno/Johansson. That at least makes some semblance of sense.

How can you not call the Wild future contenders and then say they should be building around their prospects to win? You listed guys we already have. So which is it?

lol I get it the initial easy to anger all part of being a fan

I get why you'd wanna hold onto him because he's a top 10 F and all but I look at it like this he's 27 in 3 years will the wild be able to find a 1c? Probably not especially if we are talking about one good enough to win a cup. Almost every one who most would consider a top 10-15c was taken top 5 and with Karpizov on the team I don't think they could finish that low.

I think I can justify that pretty easily by believing in Minnesotas scouting staff they've done really well but most Cs which you need to win are just not available outside of the top 5

Yurov is projected to be the future 1C, with Ek being just fine in that role for now. The issue Minnesota has is depth scoring and penalty kill. Kaprizov-Ek-Boldy was an electric top line once put together. The problem was nobody else could score on the team and one line teams are easy to defend.

Again I'm a big fan of Yurov but he just switched to C this year and even if he hits his potential is he a top 10 C? Very doubtful I just don't see a path for Minnesota to win if they don't get some crazy lottery luck or find the next Datsyuk

Couldn’t one argue that Jack Hughes isn’t a good center for the playoffs? Sure, skilled. But he’s not tall and weighs 175lbs soaking wet. He weighs less than Rossi of all people by almost 10lbs! The questions are certainly there for if he’s built for playoff hockey.

Jack Hughes has already proven himself in the playoffs you clearly didn't watch in 2023. I mentioned nothing about the way Yurov plays he's just probably not talented enough to be a top 10 C. FYI Yurov has 7 goals 3 assists in 56 KHL playoff games guess he's just not built for it either

Seems I’ve struck a nerve.

Most of that was in years prior to 2023-24 as a 13th forward who saw a few minutes of game time if he was lucky. Yurov did say that a big reason for returning to the KHL this next year was to do better in the playoffs because he was not content with 9 points in 23 KHL games as the 2C earlier this year. Prior to that playoff run, he had 1:19 in the 2020-21 playoffs, 2:02 in the 2021-22 playoffs, and 5:48 in the 2022-23 playoffs. Do some research before basing an argument entirely on points per game.

Hughes is way better than Ek