ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild signed forward Joel Eriksson Ek to a $42 million, eight-year contract Friday that carries an annual salary cap hit of $5.25 million.

Eriksson Ek had a career-high 30 points on 19 goals and 11 assists in 56 games last season. The 24-year-old Swede led the Wild in faceoff wins and was fourth in voting for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward.

He has 43 goals, 45 assists and 158 blocked shots in 266 career regular-season games with Minnesota. The Wild picked him 20th in the 2015 draft.