Wild teammates off to Paris together

It appears, at least for two members of the Minnesota Wild, that the disappointment of the 2016-17 postseason hasn’t been too difficult to shake off. Recently ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the St Louis Blues in a stunning upset, Wild teammates Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin will fly to Paris and join team Sweden for next month’s IIHF World Hockey Championships.

Eriksson Ek was a bit of a surprise breakout player this season for the Wild, so fans should be excited to see what kind of play he can provide on the world stage. The 20 year old center scored 3 goals and 7 points in just 15 games with the Wild this past season and will certainly factor into the team’s top nine forward group next season. 

As for Brodin, he experienced a modest breakout campaign with the Wild this year also. Since breaking into the NHL as a 19 year-old, fans of the Wild have been waiting for Brodin to blossom into the all-around defensive force that they hoped he could develop into. While he hasn’t exactly done that, he has provided the team with dependable defensive play and set a career high in points with 25 in 2016-17. The Wild are heavy on blue line depth, so it’s still murky how exactly Brodin fits into the team’s plans moving forward, but it’ll be a good test for him to play on the world stage, nonetheless.