Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov to Undergo Surgery, Out Minimum of Four Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
It’s more tough news on the injury front for the battered and bruised Minnesota Wild, who’ll be without forward Kirill Kaprizov indefinitely moving forward.
The 27-year-old is set to undergo surgery to address a nagging lower-body injury and has been placed on injured reserve, the club announced Tuesday. He will miss at least four weeks but is expected to return later this season.
“It is not a season-ending injury, but it will put him on the shelf for the next little while,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin told reporters Tuesday, including NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. “We’ve been down this road before, and it’s unfortunate.
“I mean, Kirill was having a Hart Trophy-type of season. It’s disappointing for him. It’s disappointing for us, too.”
Kaprizov missed 12 games earlier this season because of the same issue, but he returned on Jan. 23 and participated in each of the last three games, recording a pair of assists during that span. However, Guerin later revealed that he had only been playing at 60 percent since re-entering Minnesota’s lineup.
The Russian superstar leads the Wild in goals (23) and points (52) despite only participating in 37 games this season. He ranks second on the team in power-play points (12), trailing only Matt Boldy (13).
Before landing on the shelf, Kaprizov was considered amongst the leading candidates to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. And for most, he was believed to be the favourite in that race until his first IR stint in late December.
“Kirill is very upset,” Guerin said. “Kirill is such a team-focused guy. And I think with what he has, he knows he could probably get by in games and try to help the team. But he doesn’t like it. Him at 60 percent is better than most players in the League, but he wants to be 100 percent and help us play as long as we can this year. And I agree with him.”
Minnesota went 7-5-0 during Kaprizov’s initial extended absence, managing to tread water with the club’s best player unavailable. They’ll now be tested again as they cling to the third seed in the Central Division, sitting just two points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche.
The injuries continue to pile up for the Wild, who transferred defenceman Jonas Brodin – who hasn’t played since Jan. 7 due to a lower-body injury – to long-term injured reserve on Tuesday. Forward Marcus Johansson has also been unavailable since suffering an upper-body injury against the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 15, landing him on IR.
They were also without defenceman Jared Spurgeon for nine straight games before he returned from a lower-body injury last Thursday versus Utah.
Kaprizov was on pace for his second career 100-point season before the injury bug set in. He came up just shy of reaching that mark last season, finishing with 46 goals – one short of tying his career-high – and 96 points across 75 games.
“Make no bones about it — we’re a better hockey team with Kirill in the lineup. There’s no arguing that,” Guerin said. “But this is the reality of professional sports, and like I said, we’ll deal with it.
“We’re a good team, especially when we play a certain way, and we’ll be alright.”
Since the Wild expect Kaprizov to return before the regular season concludes, management won’t be able to utilize his $9 million cap hit as LTIR relief leading up to the Mar. 7 trade deadline.
Minnesota will resume life without the 2021 Calder Trophy winner on Wednesday in a showdown against the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.