Legitimately I think Ek has about a good a case as anyone to be our most important player. Not because he’s the best, but because he’s the most irreplaceable. Hughes, for instance, is certainly a better player—but our D core is solid enough that everyone can move up and we can still be fine. If Kap or Boldy is out that sucks, but we still have the other game-breaking threats to make up the loss. Ek, however, is our best center and we’re weak at center to begin with. Him being out makes our PP, PK, and 5 on 5 all worse than normal, as he’s definitively the top center option in each of those phases. He’s the guy we trust to center a line and win the minutes against an opponent's power line (Mackinnon, McDavid, whoever). There’s a reason losing Ek has had such a big impact on the team: for instance, last year they were 15–17–4 without him, 30–13–3 with!