Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Lightning, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports. He’ll need to come off injured reserve. Minnesota didn’t have an open roster spot entering today, but has assigned D-man Matt Kiersted to AHL Iowa, per PuckPedia, giving them the flexibility to activate Brodin.
Brodin, 32, has been out for the past seven weeks after undergoing a minor lower-body procedure in mid-January. Thanks to the Olympic break, he only missed 14 games. It was his second multi-game absence of the season after missing four games with a related lower-body issue in December.
Minnesota’s defense is now at full health for the first time since early December as they jockey for playoff seeding in the Central Division with the Avalanche and Stars. They’re 7-2-1 in their last 10, but those two regulation losses have come in their last two games, dropping contests to the Mammoth and Blues by a combined score of 8-3. They’ll have Brodin back in their top four on a familiar pairing with captain Jared Spurgeon as they try to end that brief slide against a Lightning team reeling from a 6-2 loss to the Sabres over the weekend.
Now in his 14th season in Minnesota, Brodin remains as high-end a defensive piece as ever. His ice time is under 22 minutes per game for the first time in six years, due in part to Quinn Hughes‘ acquisition pushing him out of the de facto #1 slot on the Wild’s left side, but he’s maintained a +13 rating in 42 games while starting 54.8% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the defensive zone. That’s his highest figure since 2020-21, and it’s come with him controlling 48.6% of shot attempts but 52.4% of expected goals.
Kiersted, 27, heads back to Iowa after serving as an extra defenseman for the Wild’s first three games out of the break. The Minnesota native has suited up four times for the Wild this year in addition to posting a goal and seven points in 33 games for Iowa.