Wild injury list grows for Thursday clash w/ Avs, but wins keep coming
Last season, a slew of injuries were partly to blame for the Minnesota Wild missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Injuries are starting to pile up again this year, but they’ve found ways to keep winning.
Click the video box on this page to watch morning skate interviews with head coach John Hynes and Wild players Marcus Foligno and David Jiricek, who will make his Wild debut Thursday night vs Colorado
With star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon still sidelined, the Wild will be without defensemen Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin – and potentially goalie Marc-Andre Fleury – Thursday night against Colorado.
The defensemen were injured in Tuesday’s game against St. Louis. Faber – officially out with an “upper-body injury” – appeared to be injured by a first-shift hit against the Blues. Brodin’s “lower-body injury” came when he blocked a shot later in the game.
With all the injuries to the defensive corps, the Wild called David Jiricek up from AHL Iowa. He’ll make his Wild debut Thursday against the Avalanche.
The Wild traded for Jiricek – the 6th-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft – in November.
Despite the rash of injuries, the Wild have found ways to keep winning. They’ve won four straight games and six of their last eight.
In addition to the known injuries – there’s a huge question mark in the Wild’s goaltending depth chart.
Fleury was also among those absent from Thursday’s morning skate. Head coach John Hynes said Fleury is battling an illness and will be gametime decision to back Filip Gustavsson up Thursday night against the Avalanche.
It’s unclear who will back Gustavsson up if Fleury’s unable to go. Jesper Wallstedt is nursing an injury at AHL Iowa, and recently-signed Dylan Ferguson – got hurt playing for Iowa last night.
The Wild’s longtime emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) Connor Beaupre served as the second goalie at the morning skate. Beaupre, an Edina-grad, is the son of former Minnesota North Stars goalie Don Beaupre.
The Wild have already been playing without Kaprizov, Spurgeon and Jakub Lauko.
Hynes also said Thursday morning Kaprizov has resumed on-ice workouts. He hasn’t skated with the team yet, but has been skating on his own the last couple days. There is still no timetable for his return from a lower-body injury that’s forced him to miss the last six games.
Thursday’s game is the Wild’s 42nd game, mathematically marking the first game of the second half of the season.
The NHL season as a whole also reaches the halfway point Thursday night.