Report: Wild place forwards Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek on injured reserve
The Minnesota Wild’s forward depth is about to be tested in the worst way.
On Friday afternoon, they placed center Joel Eriksson Ek and right winger Matt Boldy on injured reserve, reports The Athletic’s Michael Russo.
The Wild have recalled center Hunter Haight and right winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel as replacements, Russo reports, while the Wild also announced a recall of prospect defenseman David Jiricek Friday.
Significant #mnwild news. Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek have been placed on injured reserve. Hunter Haight and Nicolas Aube-Kubel have been recalled. Means Boldy has to miss at least the next 4 games. Ek, Bogosian, Brodin and Boldy all on IR
Eriksson Ek hasn’t played since Jan. 8 vs. the Seattle Kraken, a game he left after nine shifts with a lower-body injury when he “got intertwined a little bit with a guy right at the bench,” coach John Hynes told The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan. Eriksson Ek’s IR placement is retroactive to that date, meaning he’ll be ready to go as soon as he’s healthy. Eriksson Ek, who brings a unique mix of two-way prowess, agitation skill and power-play scoring, sits fifth on the Wild in goals with 11 and fourth in points with 32 in 45 games this season.
Eriksson Ek, 28, is a key cog up the middle, particularly after the Wild included Marco Rossi in the Quinn Hughes trade with last month, but the loss of Boldy is particularly concerning. He’ll have to miss a minimum of four games for an undisclosed injury; he played more than 19 minutes in Minnesota’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night, so it’s not yet publicly known what happened to him. Boldy, 24, is in the midst of a major breakout. His 27 goals tie him for third in the NHL, and his 51 points in 48 games sit him second on the Wild behind superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s 52. Boldy is also slated to suit up for Team USA at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics next month.
The Wild, 26-13-9, sit third in the hyper-competitive Central Division with 61 points and have the fourth-best points percentage in the NHL, but they have a tough road ahead with so many injuries to weather. Shutdown defenseman Jonas Brodin landed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury earlier this week and carries a week-to-week diagnosis, and veteran depth defenseman Zach Bogosian is also on IR with an undisclosed injury.
As for the forward replacements: Haight, 21, is a 2022 Wild second-round pick who has seen two games of NHL action this season. He has seven goals in 26 games on a very weak Iowa Wild team and was named to the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic earlier this week. Aube-Kubel, a veteran grinder, has played four games with the big club this season and is a 308-game NHL veteran. He won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22.