Wilderness Walk: Summer is officially here

Let’s go over some news and notes:

- Joel Eriksson Ek’s turned out to be a decent player for the Wild, but as a former first-round pick, it would be nice to see him up his game a little more. Perhaps a larger role will allow him to do so? [Hockey Wilderness]

- Luke Kunin has type 1 diabetes, and if the NHL season resumes, how will he impacted by the precautions necessary to keep COVID-19 at bay? [Pioneer Press]

Off the trail...

- The Lightning had to close their training facilities due to multiple players and staff contracting COVID-19. Not great. [Raw Charge]

- Auston Matthews has also tested positive for COVID-19 while staying at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. [Toronto Sun]

- With more and more athletes testing positive for the virus, some players are starting to get annoyed that the NHL is even trying to continue the season at all. [The Athletic]

- Despite some doubts about the NHL’s ability to continue the season, we now seem to have a solid start date for the qualifying tournament. Mark July 30 on your calendars, folks. [New York Post]

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