The injuries just keep piling up for Minnesota. Already missing several key regulars, Marcus Johansson can now be added to the list as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter links) that the veteran is among the list of players who aren’t with the team on their three-game road trip that began this afternoon. The 35-year-old is dealing with a lower-body injury. Johansson has had a resurgent season, notching 13 goals and 21 assists in 46 games, matching his point total from 2024-25 in 26 fewer appearances. With his absence, the Wild are now without their entire second line for this trip.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Also from Russo’s note, the injury to winger Matt Boldy that landed him on IR is a nagging issue that head coach John Hynes feels will only keep him out of the lineup for a week or two. Boldy is Minnesota’s top goalscorer with 27 on the season and is only one point behind Kirill Kaprizov for the team lead in points, earning him a spot on Team USA for the Olympics. With this short timeline for a return, he should be good to go for that event.
- Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will miss at least the next four games as he has been ruled out of action through their upcoming road trip, relays Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury. Injuries have limited Ristolainen to only 13 games this season. He’s averaging just under 21 minutes per night of action when in the lineup but the lack of availability certainly doesn’t help his value at a time the team is believed to be open to trading him.
- Earlier this week, the Penguins assigned defenseman Caleb Jones to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning stint. Unfortunately, Jones suffered an upper-body injury in his first game in the minors, according to Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis (Twitter link). As a result, he was out of the lineup on Friday. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury. Jones remains on Pittsburgh’s active roster while on assignment to the minors but if he’s going to be out much longer, he’ll likely be recalled and placed on injured reserve.