The 24-year-old center set NHL career highs in goals (19), points (30), plus-minus (plus-16) and face-off percentage (47.1 percent) in 56 games with Minnesota this season.
"Them showing me the commitment and just the strides we took last year, I really liked," Eriksson Ek said Saturday. "The team we have, I think we can build something really good. Of course I like it there and I like where our team is heading.
"I'm trying to get better ever day. Hopefully I still develop and [I'll] try to do my best to do so. Just working hard and doing the right things now in the summers too. Try to be as ready as I can when the season starts."
Eriksson Ek helped the Wild qualify for the postseason and scored three points (two goals, one assist) in the Stanley Cup First Round, when they lost in seven games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
"Hopefully we can do better [next season] and take these games against Vegas as a lesson," he said. "Just start that grind towards where we want to be."
Wild general manager Bill Guerin said signing Eriksson Ek to a long-term contract was a good fit.
"Well, we like the player, obviously," Guerin said Saturday. "We like the person. and I think when they show willingness to sign long term, it's even better. We didn't know where it was going to land when we first started talking, and to be quite honest with you, this took three days. And it just shows how much Joel wants to be here, his commitment to the team. So when the team likes a player and the player wants to show that size of commitment, that's just the way it worked.
"It is tough to get centers in this league, but I think it's more of just the player and the person. And, I mean, positionally, he obviously fills a big hole. But when you see the way he played this year, you see how he played in the playoffs, it was kind of a no-brainer for us."
Eriksson Ek, who averaged an NHL career-high 17:03 of ice time per game this season, was fourth in voting for the Selke Trophy, which is presented annually to the best defensive forward in the NHL. He was second among Wild forwards in hits (105), blocked shots (37) and shorthanded time on ice per game (1:40), and had 21 takeaways.
"I think that's the term that you hear a lot now, the 200-foot player," Guerin said. "To me, you need your centers to be that. They have to play a 200-foot game and he does and does it very well. He gets the toughest matchups all year and he gets a lot of the [penalty kill] responsibilities. He's going to start getting more power play.
"He is a very complete player, and at 24 years old, there's still a lot of room to grow. You're not done. You're not done developing yet. We are looking for him to take some big steps in the years to come."
Selected by Minnesota with the No. 20 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, Eriksson Ek has scored 96 points (43 goals, 53 assists) in 266 regular-season games, and five points (three goals, two assists) in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
NHL.com independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report
