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Player Discussion Joel Eriksson Ek: The 2nd Act

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Happy to be wrong about him. He is playing great and has really stepped up when they needed him too. Has gone from iffy to a legit part of the next core. Pretty cool :thumbsup:
 
2Pair said:
Eriksson Ek is starting to look like a very good 3rd line center. That's a huge improvement from where he was 2 months ago, but still isn't close to deserving some of the praise being thrown around.

I'm happy for the kid, and would genuinely love for him to make me look like an idiot, and become a 2nd line center. But, he isn't close to that yet, and a dozen solid games doesn't do enough for me. Reading about people being worried that Koivu might come back and take some of his icetime away, is beyond hilarious to me.
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Big fan of his play lately but I agree. He's got to keep it up, finish the year strong and show some production before we start talking about him as a top-6 center. The raw material's there though, and I think he and Donato compliment each other well.
 
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Bazeek said:
Big fan of his play lately but I agree. He's got to keep it up, finish the year strong and show some production before we start talking about him as a top-6 center. The raw material's there though, and I think he and Donato compliment each other well.
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Donato -Ek - Kunin could be an outstanding 3rd line if they can get a full season of this type of play out of Ek.
 
He's reaching the baseline finally for what should have been expected to start the year... which is a far cry from where he was a month or so ago.

He still has a long ways to go before you can claim him as a top 6 center though.

We'll see if he can get there. The outlook is more promising at least.
 
AKL said:
Yeah, 35 points is not middle six. It's third liner at best.
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You are assuming that he has topped out at his recent pace - it looks to me like there is potentially more than that.
BTW Koivu only had 45 points last year in 82 games.
 
Al Lagoon said:
You are assuming that he has topped out at his recent pace - it looks to me like there is potentially more than that.
BTW Koivu only had 45 points last year in 82 games.
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How on earth do you conclude I'm assuming he's topped out at his recent pace based on what I've said? Are you having a discussion with yourself that I don't know about?
 
Al Lagoon said:
You are assuming that he has topped out at his recent pace - it looks to me like there is potentially more than that.
BTW Koivu only had 45 points last year in 82 games.
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Assuming? 35 point pace is literally the best he has ever played, and he's only been doing it for a month. If anyone is assuming, it's the people thinking he can be a top 6 player.

Koivu is also one of the best defensive players in the world.
 
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*give Ek a compliment*

*people start arguing*

tenor.gif
 
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Was just reading one of the posters speculating that JEE may be gone after this year and thinking how I believe he's been playing so well since coming back from Iowa. One of the things I like about him is he's developed some jam to his game. Kid plays a tough game and is third on the team in hits at this points. I know he doesn't score enough for many people's liking, but we need more hard-nosed players like him. Would hate to lose this 22 year old. I think he has a solid NHL career ahead of him.
 
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chchelse said:
Was just reading one of the posters speculating that JEE may be gone after this year and thinking how I believe he's been playing so well since coming back from Iowa. One of the things I like about him is he's developed some jam to his game. Kid plays a tough game and is third on the team in hits at this points. I know he doesn't score enough for many people's liking, but we need more hard-nosed players like him. Would hate to lose this 22 year old. I think he has a solid NHL career ahead of him.
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Kind of difficult to be a "hard nosed" player from your knees. The next board battle he has where he stays on his feet, will be his first.
 
2Pair said:
Kind of difficult to be a "hard nosed" player from your knees. The next board battle he has where he stays on his feet, will be his first.
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I know you're not a fan of JEE, but I believe he still has more potential to be a significant player than most the young guys on this team.
 
chchelse said:
I know you're not a fan of JEE, but I believe he still has more potential to be a significant player than most the young guys on this team.
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I think he has the potential to be a very good 3rd liner. Not sure what young guys he has more potential than though? Certainly not Fiala, Donato, or Greenway?
 
2Pair said:
Kind of difficult to be a "hard nosed" player from your knees. The next board battle he has where he stays on his feet, will be his first.
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This isn't a thing. This isn't an issue. Did you mistake old Granlund highlights? He isn't on his knees more than the next forward. He does play hard nosed more than basically any other player on the team minus maybe Foligno.

JEE is a gamer, he's skilled, he plays a great game. I agree that he will play his best hockey at the 3rd line, but I do think he will have the skill to play 2nd line. The thing I see about him is the more minutes he plays, the better he gets.
 
Nsjohnson said:
This isn't a thing. This isn't an issue. Did you mistake old Granlund highlights? He isn't on his knees more than the next forward. He does play hard nosed more than basically any other player on the team minus maybe Foligno.

JEE is a gamer, he's skilled, he plays a great game. I agree that he will play his best hockey at the 3rd line, but I do think he will have the skill to play 2nd line. The thing I see about him is the more minutes he plays, the better he gets.
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I pretty strongly agree with this. He's not there yet, but I think he's still got 2nd line potential. I don't think he'll ever be at the Koivu level, where he could play 1st line center, but is better suited as a 2nd. Instead I think he'll be more of a 3rd line center that could play 2nd, if needed. Basically, I see him being a full level below Koivu, maybe even two levels below. And please keep in mind, that's where I think his ceiling is, not where he is right now.

He definitely does play pretty hard-nosed. He's a gritty player, I'm not sure what would be causing anyone to think differently, but I'd love to hear the argument. I also don't feel like I see him off his feet all that often. I like your dig on early Granlund because I'm realizing that may have painted my views on what "good balance" is, as watching that kid play NHL hockey was like watching an exploding yard sale.
 
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