Wild Lose Eriksson Ek and Brodin for Games 1-2 Against Avalanche — Minnesota's Depth Gets an Immediate Test

As ESPN reported, the Minnesota Wild will be without center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin for at least the first two games of their second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche, both sidelined by lower-body injuries. Neither traveled to Denver for Sunday's Game 1, leaving coach John Hynes to finalize a lineup missing two of his most trusted players in critical situations.

Eriksson Ek isn't a glamour name, but his absence reshapes how the Wild function at both ends of the ice. He posted three goals and two assists in the Dallas series while winning 56.4% of his faceoffs — a rate that matters enormously against an Avalanche team that generates off the rush. Lose the draw, and Colorado's transition game gets a head start. Hynes acknowledged the burden is collective: there's no single player who replaces what Eriksson Ek does in the defensive zone, on the penalty kill, and at the dot. Danila Yurov and Hunter Haight are the names in the mix to fill the vacancy, but neither brings the same two-way reliability.

Brodin's situation compounds the problem on the back end. The veteran defenseman is a low-event, high-efficiency defender — the kind who suppresses shot attempts and keeps possession cycles short. He sat out Game 6 against Dallas and didn't make the trip west. In his place, Minnesota's defensive structure faces a Colorado power play that ranked among the league's most dangerous in the regular season. Hynes noted both players will be reevaluated ahead of Game 3 on Saturday, suggesting Games 1 and 2 are the window of maximum vulnerability.

From a prop standpoint, this is a shots-on-goal story as much as a goals story. With Brodin out, Colorado's forwards — Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar — gain cleaner looks and more zone time. MacKinnon's shots-on-goal prop, typically set around 4.5, becomes a lean toward the over with a weakened defensive structure in front of Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson's saves prop and goals-against number also warrant attention: if Colorado's shot volume climbs even modestly, the over on team goals for the Avalanche looks attractive at current pricing. Wild team total, meanwhile, is a fade candidate — Eriksson Ek was a faceoff anchor whose absence directly affects Minnesota's ability to generate clean offensive-zone entries.

Colorado also enters shorthanded, with defenseman Josh Manson sidelined and Nick Blankenburg stepping in. Bednar praised Blankenburg's puck movement but openly flagged the loss of size and physicality. That cuts slightly against the Avalanche edge, but the net personnel swing still favors Colorado heavily for Games 1 and 2. The sharp play is to attack Minnesota's defensive props and Colorado's shot-generation props while the market adjusts to the full scope of these absences.