Confirmed with Link: Eriksson-Ek signs for 8 years ($5.25m AAV)

[TaLoN]

Poor Boldy... making all those plays for not a sniper in sight.

 

[2Pair]

Your argument that Tampa Bay is unhappy with their centers?

Yeah, they waived Johnson, twice, because they love the fact that they signed him long term. Such a great contract that the entire league passed on him for free. Twice.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Poor Boldy... making all those plays for not a sniper in sight.

I actually think Boldy would work well with Eriksson Ek and it would be nice if Ek got to play with guys who can score 20+ goals. I think Ek would pot 20+ easily next to Boldy and Fiala.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Yeah, they waived Johnson, twice, because they love the fact that they signed him long term. Such a great contract that the entire league passed on him for free. Twice.

I am sure Tampa's front office, Johnson, and Gourde will soon all find drinks large enough drown their sorrows in.

 

[2Pair]

I am sure Tampa's front office, Johnson, and Gourde will soon all find drinks large enough drown their sorrows in.

Well, figure out how the Wild can operate with a $100M cap and then you might actually have a point.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Well, figure out how the Wild can operate with a $100M cap and then you might actually have a point.

Put on your big boy pants and offer Detroit multiple picks to take Parise and buy him out.

Or just whine more about re-signing a 24-year center who is good at hockey.

 

[AKL]

I actually think Boldy would work well with Eriksson Ek and it would be nice if Ek got to play with guys who can score 20+ goals. I think Ek would pot 20+ easily next to Boldy and Fiala.

Boldy and Ek could work well, but not with Greenway as the third. That's a waste of Boldy.

 

[TaLoN]

Boldy and Ek could work well, but not with Greenway as the third. That's a waste of Boldy.

Boldy on a line with Ek, Ek better be the "least skilled" on the line for sure.

Gotta have the other wing be someone with some high quality offensive instincts... then you don't even need to worry about Ek's penchant for dump and chase tactics, as the other two could handle the zone entries.

 

[57special]

Fiala, Boldy and JEE would be worth a shot. Boldy and Fiala can handle and pass the puck. All three can shoot. JEE can do the mucking and defensive work, and save the other two for scoring situations.

Still like the GREEF's though. They are dominant, in their own weird way. They are quite valuable as is.

 

[TaLoN]

Fiala, Boldy and JEE would be worth a shot. Boldy and Fiala can handle and pass the puck. All three can shoot. JEE can do the mucking and defensive work, and save the other two for scoring situations.

Still like the GREEF's though. They are dominant, in their own weird way. They are quite valuable as is.

It would definitely cost Ek on the defensive side of things. The GREEF line is dominating defensively across the board. We all know Fiala is no defensive dynamo, and though Boldy has proven at the lower levels he's decent defensively, he won't be committing near as much at that end that Greenway and Foligno have just base on what we WANT him to be doing offensively.

 

[57special]

It would definitely cost Ek on the defensive side of things. The GREEF line is dominating defensively across the board. We all know Fiala is no defensive dynamo, and though Boldy has proven at the lower levels he's decent defensively, he won't be committing near as much at that end that Greenway and Foligno have just base on what we WANT him to be doing offensively.

I actually like Fiala's energy when he checks, but I think he is more suited to the skilled situations, JEE the muscle. Boldy, I'm not sure yet. He certainly has skill...don't know how strong he will get in 2-3 years time, and what damage he can do along the boards.

 

[TaLoN]

I actually like Fiala's energy when he checks, but I think he is more suited to the skilled situations, JEE the muscle. Boldy, I'm not sure yet. He certainly has skill...don't know how strong he will get in 2-3 years time, and what damage he can do along the boards.

Boldy is definitely suited to a skill game, but brings good size and strength to it as well. Obviously he may need to develop the strength game a bit making the jump, but with his skill and great IQ I see a pretty smooth transition for him.

 

[Bazeek]

Fiala, Boldy and JEE would be worth a shot. Boldy and Fiala can handle and pass the puck. All three can shoot. JEE can do the mucking and defensive work, and save the other two for scoring situations.

Still like the GREEF's though. They are dominant, in their own weird way. They are quite valuable as is.

Yeah, I can get my head around the Boldy/Ek/Fiala working, but I still have a hard time seeing it work better than Greenway/Ek/Foligno. We get caught up in the 1st/2nd/3rd line/center verbiage, but I still think that does that line a disservice. Call it a "defensive 2nd line" and the (presumed) Boldy/Fiala line an "offensive 3rd line" if that helps. In terms of minutes and production that's a better description.

The powerplay is where the real opportunity lies for him. From Guerin's comments that's on the team's radar so he should get the chance to show what he's got.

 

[Bazeek]

Ek's assist totals last year were mentioned in the other thread, which was something I'd been wanting to look at again. Here are the video links along with some notes. Lines in red were the ones I thought were real setups by Ek, but YMMV.

	Date	Opponent	Type	Goal by	Notes
link	10/10/2019	Jets	Secondary	Hunt	This one is all Hunt
link	11/2/2019	Blues	Secondary	Foligno	Wrung around the boards to Spurgeon, who shoots; Foligno tips it in front
link	11/5/2019	Ducks	Primary	Zuccarello	Long feed to Zuccarello (coming out of the box) for a breakaway
link	11/7/2019	Sharks	Primary	Kunin	Chips away from the boards and toward the slot, where it weirdly slithers past multiple Sharks before Kunin picks it up and scores
link	11/14/2019	Coyotes	Secondary	Greenway	Ek wins the draw, pucks goes to Brodin, Brodin shoots, puck deflects off of multiple legs, including Greenway's
link	11/19/2019	Sabres	Primary	Parise	Nice backhand pass on a 2-on-1 after Parise forces a turnover in the neutral zone
link	11/21/2019	Avalanche	Secondary	Greenway	Nice passing play from Ek -> Kunin -> Greenway
link	11/26/2019	Devils	Primary	Greenway	Forces turnover at center ice, Greenway picks it up and scores
link	11/26/2019	Senators	Primary	Kunin	Pass up to Kunin through the neutral zone; Kunin carries it in and scores
link	12/12/2019	Oilers	Secondary	Kunin	Ek wins the puck along the boards, it squirts out to Greenway who sets up Kunin
link	12/27/2019	Avalanche	Primary	Suter	Ek wins the faceoff, puck goes to Suter, Suter hits the empty net
link	12/29/2019	Islanders	Secondary	Donato	Ek touches an attempted clear that winds up going to Suter, Suter gets it toward the net and Donato eventually bats it in
link	1/4/2020	Jets	Primary	Foligno	Ek -> Kunin -> Ek -> Foligno. Nice no-look pass back to set Foligno up
link	1/5/2020	Flames	Primary	Foligno	Nice move by Ek after the zone entry. Hard to say who he was passing to here, though Foligno ends up with it.
link	1/14/2020	Penguins	Primary	Foligno	Saucer to Foligno on a 2-on-1
link	1/20/2020	Panthers	Primary	Kunin	Beats his guy in a footrace up the ice, passes to Kunin on the rush
link	1/20/2020	Panthers	Primary	Kunin	Finds Kunin in the slot after entering the zone
link	2/13/2020	Rangers	Secondary	Greenway	Chips it up the boards to Brodin, Brodin shoots, Greenway tips
link	2/27/2020	Red Wings	Primary	Greenway	Involved in a puck battle along the boards, but this one is all Greenway
link	3/3/2020	Predators	Primary	Kunin	Beats defender to the puck below the goal line, passes back to Kunin in the slot

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Trends I saw:

• Forced turnovers and transition plays. Some of his nicer passes were made on 2-on-1s
  
• Board battle -> Pass into the slot. I'm not sure that these are always actually to a player so much as just into the high-danger area with some faith that Greenway/Kunin/someone will be there to put it on net.
• Almost none of these came after extended possession or cycling. Lots of rushes and forechecking. I think it's fair to attribute that to what that line's purpose is, though. They're playing the game that they are being asked to play.

Again I don't really see great hands or puckhandling, but he does make some nice plays here.

 

[nickschultzfan]

GEEF line had massive offensive production in the beginning of the season, but it dropped off at the end, especially Greenway. It was still a good checking line, but I do not see enough justification to pencil in that line as the unchangeable part of the line-up.

Wild should continue to force JEE out of his comfort zone and play with more skilled players.

 

[Bazeek]

GEEF line had massive offensive production in the beginning of the season, but it dropped off at the end, especially Greenway. It was still a good checking line, but I do not see enough justification to pencil in that line as the unchangeable part of the line-up.

Wild should continue to force JEE out of his comfort zone and play with more skilled players.

They did have a hot start in January and the whole team dropped off in May after clinching. That line was pretty consistent overall though.

January (10 games)
JEE - 5G 4A 9P
Greenway - 2G 8A 10P
Foligno - 1G 2A 3P
Total - 8G 14A 22P

February (7 games)
JEE - 3G 0A 3P
Greenway - 0G 4A 4P
Foligno - 3G 2A 5P
Total - 6G 6A 12P

March (16 games)
JEE - 3G 2A 5P
Greenway - 3G 4A 7P
Foligno (inj) - 3G 5A 8P
Total - 9G 11A 20P

April (15 games)
JEE - 6G 4A 10P
Greenway - 1G 8A 9P
Foligno (inj) - 3G 3A 6P
Total - 10G 15A 25P

May (7 games)
JEE - 2G 1A 3P
Greenway - 0G 2A 2P
Foligno - 1G 2A 3P
Total - 3G 5A 8P

JEE and Greenway did hit a dry spell from late-march through early April, which coincided with Foligno being out with an injury.

 

[Slotski]

GEEF line had massive offensive production in the beginning of the season, but it dropped off at the end, especially Greenway. It was still a good checking line, but I do not see enough justification to pencil in that line as the unchangeable part of the line-up.

Wild should continue to force JEE out of his comfort zone and play with more skilled players.

I would be interested to see how Sturm would do replacing JEE on the GREEF line.

 

[nickschultzfan]

I would be interested to see how Sturm would do replacing JEE on the GREEF line.

He could do well.

 

[Digitalbooya]

So he got a 10 team NTC and a NMC? Interesting.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

So he got a 10 team NTC and a NMC? Interesting.

Huh?

 

[Digitalbooya]

Huh?

CapFriendly has him with a 10 team no trade clause and a no movement clause for the last 5 years.

Link

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

It's not a full no-move, obviously, with the existence of the limited no-trade. The NMC just has to do with being sent to the minors and/or waived.

 

[Digitalbooya]

It's not a full no-move, obviously, with the existence of the limited no-trade. The NMC just has to do with being sent to the minors and/or waived.

I guess I was hoping we could have a top 6 contract without some form of no trade protection for once. Pretty much nails that Fiala will ask for, and probably get, a full NMC.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I guess I was hoping we could have a top 6 contract without some form of no trade protection for once. Pretty much nails that Fiala will ask for, and probably get, a full NMC.

It’s not a Minnesota contract without one

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I guess I was hoping we could have a top 6 contract without some form of no trade protection for once. Pretty much nails that Fiala will ask for, and probably get, a full NMC.

I guess I don't really know how many top 6/9 players sign long term without being able to cross at least 5 places off the list.