Wild’s Jonas Brodin Out Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury

The Minnesota Wild will be forced to make a change on defense ahead of a potentially-decisive Game 6. Top-four defender Jonas Brodin will be forced to miss the outing due to a day-to-day, lower-body injury sustained in Game 5 per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The injury occurred when Brodin blocked a shot from Stars winger Mikko Rantanen. He left the game with two minutes left in the second period and did not return.

Brodin has averaged 19:41 in ice time through five games this series. He has had a quiet postseason, with just one assist, four penalty minutes, and 14 shot blocks in five games. Brodin has still shined as a defensive impact, on the ice for four goals-for and two goals-against at even-strength.

His role has quelled significantly after averaging nearly 23 minutes of ice time through the 2024-25 season. That step down the depth chart is largely thanks to Minnesota’s newly-christened top pair of Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, who are two of only four players averaging more than 30 minutes of ice time in the postseason. Both defenders have five points in as many games in these playoffs. Their presence, alongside Wild captain Jared Spurgeon, should help the Wild mitigate Brodin’s hole at even-strength and on the penalty-kill.

Jacob Middleton will move up to a second-pair role next to Spurgeon. Middleton recorded 16 points and a plus-two in 75 regular season games and has since notched one point and a plus-three in the postseason. He led all Wild defensemen with 87 hits through the regular season, underlining the physical and defense-first presence Middleton brings to the lineup.

Jeff Petry will come down from the press box in Brodin’s absence, playing in his first postseason game since 2021. Petry joined the Wild just ahead of the Trade Deadline and has scored one assist and a minus-five in nine games since. He has lost some spark in the sunset years of his career but has a career-long stat line of 13 points and a minus-two in 48 postseason games. He should offer a puck-moving boost to the third-pair.

Even with replacements at the ready, Minnesota will still need Hughes, Faber, and Spurgeon to step up if they want to seal the first round on Thursday. If they do, they could buy enough time for Brodin to recover from his injury before the start of the second round.