IMPACT: Minnesota Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek DELIVERS Elite Defense—Does His Slumping Offense Matter?

IMPACT: Minnesota Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek DELIVERS Elite Defense—Does His Slumping Offense Matter?

On today’s episode of Locked Down Wild, Juel Ericson X offense might be coming around slowly this year, but his defense is as good as it’s ever been, and I’ve got the stats to prove. Hey, this is Matt Baldy, and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. Hey, this is Marcus Fino, and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. You’re Locked On, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello, I’m Seth Topppal. Welcome to Locked on Wild, part of the Locked On Network. Now, the number one sports podcast network. Locked on Wild is your daily Minnesota Wild podcast. We are your team each and every day. And we thank you for making Locked Wild your first listen each and every day. as well. Make sure you subscribe on all of your favorite audio platforms and follow us on YouTube so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today’s episode of Locked Down Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. On today’s episode of Locked on Wild, we take a deep dive into Juel Ericson X 2025 2026 season. We’ll look at why his defensive numbers are as good, if not better, than they’ve ever been throughout his career. We’ll take a look at why the offensive numbers haven’t come around just yet and why Juel Erikson is contributing more than he ever has in one key area, faceoffs. My name is Seth Toball, host of Locked on Wild, credentialed media member. I’ve covered the Minnesota Wild for the last five seasons and we haven’t talked about Juel Ericson forever. So, I wanted to do a deep dive because Erikson has had an interesting season to say the least. The offensive numbers have been a little down compared to where they have uh previously been, but he’s played every game so far this year. And his contributions on the defensive side of the puck are as good, if not better, than they’ve ever been throughout his career. I want to start on the offensive side because it just, you know, five goals through the first 30 games of the season. He’s got 19 points through the first 30 games. And if you extrapolate out kind of where he’s at at this point, um his adjusted stats for the entire season have him finishing with 14 goals and 52 points, which if you look at what he did last year, last year he had 14 goals in 46 games. So it kind of looks like he was back to where he had previously been. uh a 30 goal scorer in 2023 2024 uh 22 the year before that 2529. Um he has been a guy that’s routinely been you know in the 20s as far as uh as far as goals scored go uh for the uh the last four seasons before the uh this last season 2024 2025. So, I wanted to try to kind of figure out why the uh the numbers are down the way that they are. Well, number one, through the first 30 games of the season, he has uh 90 shots on goal in 147 shot attempts. Last season, in 46 games, Erikson had 140 shots on goal uh and 217 shot attempts. He shot 10% in those 40 shots in goal. If you take a look, pretty easy math. Uh 90 shots on three games, three per game. Pretty easy math. Uh and so in the next 16 games, if you uh go ahead and take goal per game over the uh the next 16 games to try to get to that 46 from last year, uh that would get him to 48 and would put him at 138 shots on goal, which is fewer than he had last season. uh in 2023 2024 when he scored 30 goals he had 267 shots on goal 247 the year before that when he scored 23 goals 223 in 2021 2022 when he had 26 so he’s shooting less frequently now if he if you extrapolate three shots on goal per game over the full 82 game season that gets you to 246 which actually put him right in line with the uh the last few seasons. So, the volume is still there for the most part. The accuracy just has not been so far. Um, if you look at the Minnesota Wild as a team, courtesy of uh moneypuck.com, as far as expected goals go, Julenk is third on the team with 8.4 expected goals. He has five total on the season. Uh as far as uh some of the other numbers, we know Juel Ericson to be a good presence in front of the net. So how is he doing as far as the uh high danger attempts um that he has uh has previously had throughout the course of the season? Well, the high danger attempts are a little down compared to where he has previously been. He has nine in 30 go uh 30 games so far this year. He had 18 in 46 games last year. So, he’s below that pace at least through the first 46 games of the season. So, not as many unblocked shot attempts in high danger as he’s had in uh previous seasons. Uh as far as the percentage of shots that miss the net, that has increased a couple of percentage points to 26.8% um compared to 25.1 last year, 25.8 the year before. So, a percentage point, which again, over the course of a full season, you go from uh having 93 shots that missed the net um in his last full season and through uh roughly a third of the year this year, he’s he has 33. So, he’s on pace for more. It it adds up over the course of a season. even 1% more of your shots missing the net entirely that uh that can that can add up and that can lead to uh lead to those numbers dropping uh a little bit. So the numbers are pretty much in line with where they’ve been over the last few seasons. We just have not seen Erikson able to capitalize like he has in previous seasons. still getting the the attempts in low just has not been able to bury them at the same rate that he has uh previously. I I think another reason as to why his uh attempts have been uh why his shots and his uh his goals are down compared to previous seasons is honestly I think Marcus Johansson has uh taken a few of those goals off the board from him. Think about where Marcus Johansson’s been the last couple of seasons. 11 total goals the previous two seasons and Matt Baldy playing mostly on that line with him. I think those guys have just been scoring more frequently. Um as far as the rebound shots go, which is another piece of Erikson X’s game that’s his bread and butter. Uh there just haven’t been as many rebound attempts as uh as we’ve seen over the last few years. those guys are just scoring a little higher pace than uh than they have. So, if you’re a little less accurate in the same amount of volume and your linemates are grabbing a few of the goals that you would normally have, yeah, your goal scoring is going to be uh down a little bit compared to where it has previously been. But make no mistake, the other numbers suggest that Julen X performance has been every bit as good as the uh the last few seasons. We’re going to dive into the defensive statistics that Erikson has put together, including a list of players that he has absolutely clamped this season. Uh that is coming up as we continue today’s episode of Lockdown Wild after this. Today’s episode of Lockdown Wild is brought to you by Monarch. The holidays are amazing, but they can also get overwhelming fast. Travel, gifts, parties, year-end expenses. It’s easy to lose track of your money this time of year. And that’s exactly why Monarch has become such a gamecher for me. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. Rated Wall Street Journal’s best budgeting app of 2025, Monarch is the all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, simple dashboard. In minutes, you can check your net worth, link all your accounts, and keep track of contributions made before deadlines. Monarch makes money check-in simple. Just a minute or two each week, and you are completely up to speed. And it’s great for couples, too. Shared dashboards, shared goals, and fewer Wait, how much did we spend? Conversations. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code lockdown NHL at monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code locked on NHL. Welcome back to today’s episode of Locked On. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day and for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. And uh those of you that have been with us from day one, if you’re a true diehard Minnesota Wild fan, the everyday or all access tier is built just for you. You’ll get one-on-one text access with me, all access episodes, ad free, an exclusive newsletter, and 15% off the Locked Onch store. Just head to lockdownw.supcast.com to join the Everydayer program. and unlock the all access tier. You can also find the link in today’s show notes. So, the offense still coming around for Juel Ericen X so far this season, but the defense, my word, the defense has been on another level. Take a listen to this. An article that was put together um in the early part of December by Michael Russo and Joe Smith taking a look at kind of what changed for the Minnesota Wild. Listen to these numbers for Juel Ericson and some of the centers that he has gone toe-to-toe with so far this year. Uh now the key stat here is expected goals percentage and the numbers are Juel Erikson versus this particular player compared to that player versus other Minnesota Wild centers because you’re not going to get those matchups the whole time. you’re you’re going to have some times in which you know that particular superstar player is going to match up with somebody else. So here are the numbers. We’ll start with Nathan McKinnon. He had a 65% expected goals percentage. And what that means once again is when that player, in this case Nathan McKinnon, is on the ice, 65% of the time if there is a goal scored, it’s going to be Nathan McKinnon. That’s those are pretty good odds. I would take those odds considerably with a player of Nathan McKinnon’s caliber. When Nathan McKinnon was on the ice at the same time that Juel Ericen was on the ice, that expected goal percentage dropped to 51.1%. So you’re talking about a 14% drop in expected goals with Julenka on the ice at the same time that Nathan Nathan McKinnon was on the ice. Let’s talk about Connor Baddard in the matchup that the Wild had uh most recently against Chicago. Baddard had a 58.5% expected goal percentage against centers not named Juel Ericson. against Juel Ericson. That number was 14.8%. Clamps. Sydney Crosby. Now, this was a game that the Wilds dominated. Uh Sydney Crosby had an expected goal percentage of 31.8%. Which is not a great number, but there was even a difference there. Against Juel Ericson, his expected goal percentage was 25.3%. So, you’re talking about a 6% drop there in a game that the Wild throttled the Penguins. Um, still a 6% drop for Sydney Crosby. Uh, Sebastian Aaho in a game that the Wild won against the Carolina Hurricanes. He had an expected goal percentage against all centers not named Juel Ericenk of 42%. against Juel Erikson it was 37.5. Jack Eel against non Ericson X centers had an expected goal percentage of 100% against Juel Erikson 36.2 Leo Carlson 100% expected goal percentage against non Ericson X centers against Juel Ericen 25.4 4%. And Mlin Celibbrraini, think about what he has done to the sh to the Minnesota Wild throughout his young Sharks career. 57.4% expected goal percentage against non-Ericson X centers against Juel Ericen. 3.9%. [Music] So, a pretty solid list of high-end centers and there is a noticeable percentage with Juel Ericson on the ice compared to when he is off it. But that is just one side of the coin. If you look at some of Julen X’s peripheral numbers from a defensive percentage, defensive perspective and on ice goals against of 2.4 per 60 minutes, which is the best number that Julen has had in a season since 2017 2018 when he was a 21year-old 2.4 4 goals against per 60 with Erikson on the ice and that is amongst uh that is amongst the best um that is in the I think top 50 of forwards uh if I read that correctly uh in the entire NHL as far as goals against per 60 in five on five that number drops to 1.5 five, which is the best that uh Juel Eriken has ever had in a season. 1.5 goals against per 60 minutes in five on five play. In all situations, it’s 2.4. Uh as far as some of the other numbers go, his uh defensive point shares through 30 games this season at one. He had 1.4 four all of last season in 46 games. So, he’s on pace to break that. His careerhigh as far as defensive point shares go is 2.5. He’s already got a full point on the defensive side of the ice um through the first 30 games of the season. I mean, I could continue to go on and on and on and on um about what he has done on the defensive side of the ice and uh it’s just like you are taking away and maybe not take maybe taking away is not the right word but you are making it substantially harder for B basically your top option on the opposition. Substantially harder for that top option to get the puck in the net. Substantially harder. Now, if we take that a uh if we take that a step further and look at the uh offensive lines throughout the entirety of the uh NHL actual goals against per 60 minutes, uh I’m going to find the Minnesota Wild on this list. Uh in 147 minutes played together. So, let’s let let’s move the uh the guidelines here. In 147.4 minutes played together in 17 games, the Matt Baldi, Julen, and Marcus Johansson line has been on the ice for two goals against. That is a 81 goals against per 60 minutes. That is second in the entire NHL just behind the uh Jano Castillic and Mint uh Menton line for Boston and tied with Fogle, Deno, and more for the Kings. Second in all the land as far as uh five on five goals go this season. Just two allowed in uh in 17 games. So that is a combination that you can throw at just about anybody um depending on what their uh what their top line combination looks like. Some of the other line combinations that Juel Ericen has been a part of uh here this season the Matt Baldy Juel Ericson Carell Capri off line which has played 73 minutes so far this year they have a 1.62 62 goals against average or goals against per 60 minutes. Baldi, Erikson, and Terasenko, they have a 2.39 in 50 minutes of time on ice together. And if we go to just all the line combinations, uh Juel Ericson is part of again some of the uh the top choices uh in those fields. uh just one of the best stingiest lines in the entire NHL. And it’s largely because of uh what Julen Ek has uh has done so far this year. And to think he was recently voted by the Athletic as having one of the most punchable faces in the NHL. Well, I think we’ve seen enough of that uh to know that yes, he uh he takes more abuse, more punishment than uh most anybody in the entire NHL and he just keeps he just keeps going about his business. Now, there is one part of Julen X game that we’ve seen steady improvement in over the last few years and now finally this year it seems like it’s been unlocked. Faceoffs. Because I’m here to tell you five on five Ericson is below 50%. But on the season his faceoff percentage is above 50%. We got to take a look at how he has done on special teams. We’ll talk about that as we continue today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you are reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. my favorite aspect of betting on the NHL. Anytime goal scorers, you know, the the spreads and the uh the money line get a little complicated with the NHL because you’re talking about goals as far as instead of actual points. So anytime goal scorer is just an easy route to go. You can watch for the whole game and it keeps the excitement at an all-time high. The Minnesota Wild playing the Dallas Stars tomorrow. Carell Capri off. Jason Robertson forever linked to the Cder Trophy chase from the 2020 2021 season. How about Carill for an anytime goal during the uh the game against the Stars? That’s my pick, my prediction. for tomorrow’s game. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Final segment of today’s episode of Lockown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Locked On your first listen each and every day, for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. And if you’re curious for more on the Every Dayer Club, head to the show notes. Locked on Wild uh is bringing you access like never before. Uh so make sure to uh check out the Everydayer Club. Once again, locked wild. cast.com so you can join in on the fun. So, Juel Erikson playing really good defense this year. Offense is still coming along, but hot dog, wouldn’t you know it, the faceoff numbers have improved uh this season. Juel Erikson on the year has won faceoffs at a 51.4% clip. Now, compared to what we have uh had from the Minnesota Wild over that that span over the uh the last few years, Erikson has only had one year throughout his entire career in which his faceoff numbers have gone backwards and that was his uh injury shortened season last year in which he dropped to 47.1% in all situations. This year in all situations, he’s at 51.4. He’s taking a million faceoffs like he has uh pretty much every season, especially since John Hines took over as head coach. There’s no situation that Hines is afraid to use uh Erikson in. Uh he has won double the faceoffs that the next closest person has, which is Ryan Hartman with 137 faceoff wins. Erikson is at 326 and the only other players Nico Sturm above 50%, Ben Jones above 50%. Um, Marco Rossi and Ryan Hartman are in the 40s. Rossi at 48.6 though. So, Juel Erikson has been winning faceoffs at a reputable clip this season. But in the key situations, the numbers get even better. Uh Erikson X faceoff numbers, we’ll start at uh we’ll start at five on five. His uh his faceoff winning percentage in five on five is 47.9%. which actually would be a careerhigh uh which is tied for the 2022 2023 season. He’s been at 47.7 uh two out of the last three years and now 47.9 this year. Juel Ericen X’s faceoff percentage on the power play is 56% this year. 70 faceoff wins on the power play, 55 losses, 56%. That’s the highest mark he’s had since 2023, 2024 when he won 60 of them and took, you know, 340 attempts. But how about on the penalty kill? It’s been a stark difference for Juel Ericson this season compared to where he’s been at uh throughout the rest of his career. Juel Eriken is winning faceoffs at a 58.5% clip when the Wild are short-handed. That has shattered his previous career high which was 43.1% back in 2022 2023. Last year he was at 35.3. The year before that he was at 39.8. Now he’s taking fewer attempts. And this is uh I think another piece as to why the wild penalty kill has been better. They’ve been far less challenged, far less tested in those situations than in previous years, but still 58.5% in the faceoff dot on the penalty kill is a careerhigh for Juel Eric. Now if we look at other situations uh five on five in close games Juel Erikson is at 47.4% in the faceoff circle when the game is tied in five on five play Juel Eric is at 51.3%. And when they uh when the Wild are even strength, which includes five on five, but it includes four on four and others, career-high 48.7% on the dot. So, I think the improvement in special teams is the most impressive to me because over the last few seasons for those that have paid close attention to this mark, uh the Wilds have it seems like they can they can’t buy a faceoff win to save their lives and now this year they’ve been able to which is why the penalty kill has climbed timed back over 80% for the first time in two seasons and the only time that they’ve done that in the last five. So Eric has made his presence felt in the dot. He’s made his presence felt on defense and honestly I think the offense will come around. I just I think he is he’s still showing his his value just in a a different way this year than he has in previous years. I still think Marcus Johansson has a little something to say about that. Uh, so as far as Juel Ericen goes, the numbers as good as they’ve been ever defensively, will it translate to Juel Ericen winning the Selki Trophy? Now, that is an interesting conversation to be had. Uh Erikson finished 24th in last year’s voting for the Selki uh which is given to the uh top defensive forward in the league. Now take a taking into consideration the names that were on the list last year. Alexander Barov won the thing last year. He has missed quite a bit of the uh the season uh for the Florida Panthers so far this year. Uh Joel Ericen got one third place vote and one fourth place vote. Could this be the year that he gets back into the top 10? I mean, after 24th last year, he was in the top 10 as far as Selki voting goes for four straight seasons. He was fourth in 2020, 2021, then seventh, then ninth, then 10th, then 24th. Maybe he gets back into the top 10 this year. It depends on health and if he can continue to do what he did against Nathan McKinnon, Connor Bdard, Cydney Crosby, Sebastian Aaho, Jack Eel, Leo Carlson, and Mlin Celibbrraini. If he can continue to do that against those caliber players, this will be the best chance that he has to win it over the uh o over the course of his career. So, we’ll keep an eye on it, but uh Juel Erikson, the defense always plays and it’s playing nicely so far this year. That’s going to do it for today’s episode of Locked on Wild. On tomorrow’s show, we will take a look at a big game against Big D. Dallas Stars coming to Grand Casino Arena for a chance to flex their muscles. We’ll see if the Minnesota Wild can respond in kind despite many injuries to the lineup. Uh we’ll uh we’ll talk it all through as we uh get you ready for game day tomorrow night. Uh make sure you subscribe on all of your favorite audio platforms and on YouTube so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. You can find the show by uh following us on all of your favorite social media platforms at Lockdown Wild. Uh we are on Facebook, X, Instagram, Tik Tok, all the main platforms. You can find additional content in those spots. And uh did Locked on Wild make your Spotify wrapped? I know Cassie posted hers on X. Big shout out. Thank you for uh for the support. 7,000 plus minutes listening to Lockown Wild this past year. Incredible stuff. Uh, prove it on social media. To secure a free month of our brand new Everyday Club, just tag the National Locked on Podcast Network account on any social media platform and they will drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club to get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to the membersonly Discord channel. For those of you on video, we’ll send you to the first ever 247 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel. On audio, make sure you find your second listen, which is NHL game night, courtesy of Locked On NHL. Uh we’ll see you for the next episode right here on Lockdown Wild, your team every day.

Minnesota Wild’s defensive powerhouse Joel Eriksson Ek is locking down the NHL’s elite centers—Nathan McKinnon, Connor Bedard, and Sidney Crosby all see their expected goals plummet when matched up against him. His offense may be slower to ignite this season, but his defensive metrics and faceoff dominance are reaching career highs. Can Eriksson Ek’s shutdown ability push him into serious Selke Trophy contention?

Seth Toupal spotlights Eriksson Ek’s evolving role, analyzes line combinations with Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson, and uncovers how improved special teams are reviving the Wild’s penalty kill. The discussion covers high-danger scoring chances, missed shot percentages, and the impact of Johansson’s offensive surge. As Minnesota braces for a pivotal clash against the Dallas Stars, questions loom about the offense finding its rhythm and Eriksson Ek cementing his legacy as the NHL’s top defensive forward.

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