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Wild Move Kirill Kaprizov To LTIR, Jonas Brodin Expected To Return

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The Minnesota Wild have moved star forward Kirill Kaprizov to long-term injured reserve retroactive to his most recent game on January 26th. This move will open up additional cap space and roster flexibility, which Michael Russo of The Athletic suggests could indicate the return of top defenseman Jonas Brodin. Russo shares that Brodin will likely join the team in Boston this weekend and prepare to make his return to the ice on Tuesday. Brodin has missed Minnesota’s last 12 games with a lower-body injury suffered after blocking a shot in the team’s January 7th win over the St. Louis Blues. Brodin was placed on injured reserve 11 days later, then shifted to LTIR on January 28th. Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins would mark the soonest that he’d be able to return.

This news comes as sweet and sour for a Minnesota roster that’s faced terrible injury luck all season long. Brodin has played in just 31 of the team’s 53 games this season, but he’s continued to perform as a top-pair option when he’s healthy. He has recorded four goals and 16 points, six penalty minutes, and a +10 on the season. He’s also blocked 67 shots, second-most on the Wild behind Jacob Middleton. Brodin has managed top-end stats while averaging north of 23 minutes of ice time each game. That number – like many of his stats – ranks second on the defense behind Brock Faber’s near-25 minutes of ice time on average. Brodin will be launched back to Minnesota’s top line as soon as he can handle it, especially after a 6-0 trampling courtesy of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

But the sour of the move comes via an extended absence for the Wild’s superstar. Kaprizov has undergone surgery for his lower-body injury that went well, per NHL.com’s Joe Smith. But he’ll now be forced out of the lineup through the rest of February, at least. He has been formally designated as week-to-week, which could stretch his prognosis out even further. Kaprizov was the beating heart of the Wild lineup prior to injury. He led the team in goals (23), assists (29), and points (52) through just 37 appearances. That’s an 82-game scoring pace of 115 points, which would have shattered Minnesota’s previous single-season scoring record – 108 points, set by Kaprizov in 2021-22. He also earned third spot on that list with 96 points in 75 games last year. Minnesota sits firmly in a playoff spot as February rolls around, giving them the chance to focus on getting Kaprizov back to full-health before the postseason begins.

Wild’s Ryan Hartman To Have In-Person Player Safety Hearing

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Wild forward Ryan Hartman will have an in-person hearing with the league’s Department of Player Safety after he was ejected from last night’s 6-0 loss to the Senators for intending to injure Ottawa star Tim Stützle, per an announcement from the organization Sunday. Hartman is now eligible to be suspended for more than five games.

The incident occurred with 16 seconds left on the clock in the second period. Hartman drove Stützle’s head into the ice following a defensive zone draw, causing the latter’s helmet to come off and creating a cut on his forehead (video link via Sportsnet).

Hartman was given a match penalty for roughing and intent to injure. The Senators scored three times on the ensuing five-minute major power play to begin the third period, including two assists from Stützle.

The pair found themselves on the box score earlier in the second period when Stützle was assessed a minor penalty for slashing Hartman. At the same time, the latter was assessed a double minor for roughing and embellishment. Hartman totaled 19 PIMs in the game, marking the second time he’s earned a match or misconduct penalty this season. The other occurred in a 6-1 home loss to the Panthers in December.

It’s been a disappointing campaign for the 30-year-old, who’s been bumped to bottom-six minutes with the emergence of Marco Rossi as Minnesota’s first-line center. His offensive pace has been harmed as a result, tied for ninth on the team in scoring with 17 points (7 G, 10 A) through 48 games. His 14:45 ATOI is his lowest usage since his first season in the State of Hockey in 2019-20, while his minus-eight rating ranks as the club’s lowest.

Nonetheless, a pending multi-game absence will be difficult to swallow for a Wild forward group that’s already missing top-six wingers Marcus Johansson and Kirill Kaprizov. Johansson remains without a timeline to return following a concussion over two weeks ago, while Kaprizov remains out until at least the end of the month following lower-body surgery.

Wild Recall Ben Jones

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Forward Ben Jones has been recalled by the Wild again Wednesday, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. He’d been with their AHL affiliate in Iowa for the past two weeks after clearing waivers. He’s now once again on the active roster, which still has one open spot, after spending nearly two months there earlier this season amid a rash of forward injuries.

Today’s recall is the corresponding transaction for yesterday’s roster moves that saw superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov land back on injured reserve and defenseman Jonas Brodin move from IR to LTIR. Kaprizov’s IR placement came following news that he will undergo lower-body surgery later this week to address a lingering muscular issue, keeping him out of the lineup for the next four to six weeks.

Jones, 25, has played 26 games with the big club this season without recording a point. He posted a minus-three rating in his most extended NHL action to date, averaging a minimal 8:23 per game and controlling just 39.7% of shot attempts at even strength. He’s been much more productive on the farm, where he has 14 points (5 G, 9 A) in 20 games for Iowa.

Jones entered the season with only two NHL games under his belt, both coming with the Golden Knights in the 2021-22 season. He was a seventh-round pick of Vegas’ inaugural 2017 draft class, scoring 64 points in 140 games for their AHL affiliates in Chicago and Henderson before being non-tendered and landing with the Flames in free agency. The Ontario native spent two seasons with AHL Calgary before landing in the Wild organization this summer, posting 97 points (38 G, 59 A) with a +34 rating in 143 games.

The Wild, who have not had a healthy lineup since Nov. 10, will likely have Jones sit as a healthy extra for Wednesday’s game against the Maple Leafs. They no longer have Kaprizov or Marcus Johansson available, but the recent activation of Jakub Lauko and the recall of winger prospect Liam Ohgren gives them 12 healthy options to dress at forward outside of Jones, at least for now. Jones signed a two-year, two-way deal over the summer, so he won’t be hitting free agency again until 2026.

Kirill Kaprizov To Undergo Lower-Body Surgery, Out Minimum Four Weeks

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1:34 p.m.: The Wild moved Kaprizov to IR to open up a roster spot, per a team announcement. They also shifted Brodin from IR to LTIR retroactive to Jan. 7 to open up the cap space for a forward recall, ruling him out of the team’s next two games at minimum.

10:35 a.m.: Wild star winger Kirill Kaprizov missed Tuesday’s practice and will undergo surgery to address his nagging lower-body injury, according to Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic. Russo and Smith report the surgery, which would address what’s believed to be a muscular issue in his groin and is scheduled for Friday, carries an expected recovery time of six weeks. General manager Bill Guerin handed down an official week-to-week designation with a minimum four-week window, per Jessi Pierce of NHL.com.

The loss of Kaprizov is less devastating than when he missed 12 games over the past month-plus, with most of his absence set to fall while the NHL schedule stops for the 4 Nations Face-Off. They still have six games left before the break, though, and their best player will join top shutdown defenseman Jonas Brodin and middle-six winger Marcus Johansson on injured reserve for that stretch. While the ageless Mats Zuccarello and breakout center Marco Rossi still form two-thirds of a formidable top line, there’s simply no replacement for Kaprizov as the Wild desperately try to hold onto their top-three spot in the Central Division heading into the break.

While second-line winger Matt Boldy is a top-line player in most markets and would likely do well with a bump in ice time, the 27-year-old Kaprizov has solidified himself as a top-three winger in the league this season. In 37 games, the 5’10” lefty has tallied 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points with a +19 rating. His 1.41 points per game are fifth in the league, and tops among left-wingers, not a level of production Boldy or the other few high-upside offensive options in the organization can aim to touch.

Boldy slid into Kaprizov’s minutes during his previous absence, doing well offensively but causing the line’s two-way dominance to falter. He posted five goals and six assists for 11 points over the 12-game span, but the Boldy-Rossi-Zuccarello trio has conceded 3.61 expected goals against per 60 minutes compared to just 2.38 xGA/60 with Kaprizov on that line, per MoneyPuck. With Johansson also missing from the top nine, 2022 first-round pick Liam Ohgren is likely to get an extended run in increased minutes. It’s a shot in the dark, though – Ohgren has just two points in 13 NHL showings this season, both assists against the Avalanche on Jan. 20.

Kaprizov will be back shortly after the trade deadline if he undergoes surgery this week and the six-week recovery window holds true. That won’t allow Minnesota to keep Kaprizov’s cap hit on long-term injured reserve for the remainder of the regular season, but it should allow them additional options for short-term flexibility as they look to add to their roster. They’ve been linked to Islanders pending UFA pivot Brock Nelson, and The Fourth Period reports they’ve at least demonstrated loose interest in Canucks stars J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. But they currently project to have just $200K in deadline space, requiring them to move out salary in any deal they make, plus asking for maximum retention on the other end.

Wild Activate Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon

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Jan. 23: The Wild officially activated Kaprizov from LTIR and Spurgeon from IR Thursday morning, per a team announcement. Jiříček was indeed reassigned to AHL Iowa yesterday, clearing the cap space for the former’s reinstatement.

Jan. 22: The Wild look to have superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon back in their lineup Thursday against Utah, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. Both were full participants in Wednesday’s practice.

Kaprizov, 27, has missed 12 games with a nagging groin injury and has not played in nearly a month. On Dec. 23, the date of his last appearance, he was tied for second in the league in goals (23) and fourth in points (50) through 34 games.

Spurgeon, 35, returns after a slew-foot from Predators winger Zachary L’Heureux caused him a lower-body injury on New Year’s Eve. L’Heureux has since served and returned from a three-game suspension for the play, while Spurgeon missed nine contests, assuming he’s cleared to draw into the lineup tomorrow.

Minnesota entered Wednesday with a pair of roster spots, so taking Spurgeon off standard injured reserve won’t be a problem. However, Kaprizov is on long-term injured reserve, and the Wild lack the cap space to reinstate his $9MM cap hit.

They don’t need to open up a ton of flexibility, though, so they have a few ways of creating the required funds quickly. The simplest and likeliest is sending down defenseman David Jiříček, who projects to exit the lineup with Spurgeon returning anyway, Russo adds. They could also retroactively place defenseman Jonas Brodin on LTIR with his lower-body injury if he’s due to remain out until at least Feb. 1 or place defenseman Travis Dermott on waivers with the intent to send him to AHL Iowa.

Kaprizov looks to skate in his usual top-line role alongside Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello, according to Minnesota’s line rushes at today’s skate. Spurgeon will return to his new role as the Wild’s No. 2 right-shot defenseman behind Brock Faber with Declan Chisholm on his left flank as usual top-four option Brodin remains sidelined.

Despite missing an extended period, Kaprizov still has a nine-point cushion ahead of Matt Boldy for the team lead in points. He also leads the club with a +21 rating and 4.5 GF/60 at even strength.

While not the Norris nomination threat he once was, Spurgeon is still a comfortable top-four piece coming off left hip and back surgeries that capped his 2023-24 campaign at 16 appearances. In 37 contests this year, he’s posted four goals and nine assists for 13 points with a plus-three rating, averaging 20:43 per game. That’s still the 35-year-old’s lowest usage since his rookie season with Minnesota 14 years ago, though.

Although it hasn’t translated into a dominant rating, Spurgeon still tracks as the Wild’s best possession-controlling defenseman, at least at even strength. His 52.5 CF% leads Minnesota blue-liners and ranks second on the team behind Marcus Foligno’s 52.7.

Minnesota Wild Reassign David Jiříček

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Given that the Minnesota Wild are expected to activate forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon before tomorrow’s game against the Utah Hockey Club, at least one player needed to come off the roster. According to a team announcement, the player in question will be defenseman David Jiříček, who the team has reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

It was difficult to ascertain any concrete expectations for Jiříček in his first real go-around with the Wild. Although he had been on the NHL roster after the team acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets, he had only participated in practice.

Once the team originally sent him to AHL Iowa, he was expected to continue or improve upon his nine-goal, 22-point effort in 33 games he had achieved from the start of the 2023-24 season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Instead, Jiříček fell short of those expectations, tallying only two assists in his first 11 games.

The Wild recalled Jiříček on January 8th to replace the injured Spurgeon but he produced many of the same results. Jiříček went scoreless over the first four games of the call-up averaging 12:56 of ice time per game.

Still, Jiříček was determined not to leave the Wild with a bad taste in their mouth, showing flashes of exactly why he was drafted with the sixth overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft. In two games against the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche, Jiříček scored one goal and one assist with a +2 rating averaging 13:16 of ice time.

It was readily apparent that Jiříček had more confidence with the puck and was more engaged in the action because of it. As he heads back to Des Moines, IA to continue his development with the Wild’s AHL affiliate, the team can only hope he brings that same confidence to his AHL contests.

Wild Reassign Brendan Gaunce

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The Wild have multiple impact players nearing injured reserve activations, and the team announced they’ve opened a second roster spot today by reassigning center Brendan Gaunce to AHL Iowa.

Gaunce, 30, was a highly-touted prospect with the Canucks in the early days of his career but has since become a depth journeyman. He’s only landed full-time NHL work on rare occasions and has seen AHL time in each of his professional seasons spent in North America. He’s been productive in the minors in recent years, hovering near a point per game there while in the Blue Jackets organization from 2021 to 2024, leading to a two-year, two-way commitment from Minnesota in free agency last offseason. In addition to recording 39 points in 46 games while serving as Cleveland’s captain in 2023-24, he posted a pair of goals and assists in 24 NHL games for Columbus.

The 2024-25 season has once again been kind to Gaunce in the minors but not in his brief NHL action. He’s slotted in five times for the Wild this season amid injuries to their forward group, but none since his most recent recall on Friday. He’s gone without a point while posting a minus-three rating, averaging under 10 minutes per game, and winning 41.7% of his draws. He’s demonstrated a lack of physical play for his 6’3″, 219-lb frame, only recording six hits after averaging more than two per game in Columbus last year. His even-strength possession play has also been ghastly – opponents have out-attempted the Wild 63-26 with Gaunce on the ice at even strength this season.

Nonetheless, he’s been up to his usual tricks in Iowa, where he’s spent most of the season after clearing waivers during training camp. He’s among the team’s top three scorers with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 26 games. He doesn’t need waivers for today’s demotion since he’s spent less than 30 cumulative days on the Wild’s active roster since clearing waivers on Oct. 1 and played fewer than 10 NHL games.

In the meantime, the Wild now have the roster space to activate two of Jonas Brodin, Marcus Johansson, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jared Spurgeon before Thursday’s home tilt against Utah. Reassigning Gaunce also gets Minnesota out of using their LTIR pool, solely consisting of Kaprizov, to stay cap-compliant, so there won’t be additional maneuvering required to activate the superstar winger.

Wild Return Dylan Ferguson From Emergency Recall, Place Jonas Brodin On IR

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Jan 19th: The Wild organization announced they’ve reassigned Ferguson to AHL Iowa from his emergency recall. The transaction indicates Gustavsson has recovered from his illness and will be an option against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow afternoon.

Jan 18th: With Filip Gustavsson expected to be unavailable for tonight’s game against Nashville due to illness, the Wild needed to add another netminder.  They’ve made that move, announcing the recall of Dylan Ferguson from AHL Iowa on an emergency basis.  To make room on the roster, defenseman Jonas Brodin was placed on injured reserve.

After spending last season in the KHL, Ferguson returned to North America on a minor league deal with Iowa before being converted to a two-way NHL deal earlier this month.  The 26-year-old has played in nine games in the AHL this season, putting up a 3.70 GAA and a .881 SV%.  Ferguson has just three career NHL appearances, one coming as a junior-aged player with Vegas and two with Ottawa back in 2023.

As for Brodin, he has missed the last week and a half with a lower-body injury.  Assuming his IR placement was backdated, he’ll have already missed the required seven days and will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.  The veteran has 16 points and 67 blocks in 31 games this season, putting him on pace for one of his best offensive outputs.

The team also noted that David Jiricek’s recall has been converted from an emergency one to a regular recall.  He was brought up when Brodin was injured and this is simply a procedural move based on Brodin’s IR placement and the expected return of Brock Faber.

Latest On The Wild’s Injuries

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The Wild have not had a pleasant past few weeks. They haven’t had a fully healthy lineup since Nov. 10, and injuries have really come to the forefront recently. Cap restrictions forced them to transfer star winger Kirill Kaprizov to long-term injured reserve yesterday.

Things are beginning to turn around, albeit slowly. Top defenseman Brock Faber is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow in Nashville after missing four games with an upper-body injury, head coach John Hynes told NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. He also confirmed that winger Jakub Lauko will play after being previously activated from LTIR on Thursday.

They’ll still remain without Kaprizov for their next two games, though, as neither he nor captain Jared Spurgeon will make their brief Central Division road trip, Hynes added. Kaprizov is eligible to come back off LTIR at any time after already missing the required time with his lower-body injury, while Spurgeon remains sidelined due to the lower-body injury he sustained on a slew foot from Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux on New Year’s Eve.

Stalwart defender Jonas Brodin is also staying home while he continues to nurse a lower-body injury and Marcus Johansson is unavailable after his recent concussion landed him on IR yesterday, so that makes four roster regulars, and impactful ones at that, sidelined for at least Minnesota’s next two games. All of their roster maneuvering allowed the club to recall forwards Brendan Gaunce, Liam Ohgren, and Devin Shore from AHL Iowa over the past 24 hours, per PuckPedia, who detailed how the order in which those transactions were executed affected their delicate salary cap situation. After the moves, they’re back to having ample breathing room with $7.45MM in their LTIR pool, although they’ll need to figure out how to reinstate Kaprizov when he’s ready to come back in the next week or so.

While the Wild have understandably dropped three of their last four games, they’re still in a battle for second in the Central Division with a 27-14-4 record. They’re a virtual playoff lock at a 96.5% chance and still have a 9.7% chance of winning their second division title in franchise history, per Hockey Reference.

While Gaunce, Ohgren and Shore bring a decent mix of veteran professional experience and, in Ohgren’s case, long-term top-six upside, they’ve combined for just one assist in 38 appearances this season. Each has averaged under 10 minutes per game and posted ghastly possession numbers, particularly in Gaunce’s case with a 29.2 CF% at even strength in five showings.

Wild Place Kirill Kaprizov On LTIR, Marcus Johansson On IR

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5:30 PM: Minnesota has additionally placed Kirill Kaprizov on retroactive long-term injured reserve. He will be eligible to return as soon as he’s back to full health. In addition, Minnesota has recalled forwards Liam Ohgren and Brendan Gaunce – bringing them to a full roster ahead of Saturday’s game against Nashville.

4:00 PM: The Minnesota Wild have placed forward Marcus Johansson on injured reserve with an upper-body injury believed to be a concussion, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johansson suffered the injury when Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid discretely elbowed him in the head in the two sides’ Wednesday night matchup. The infraction did not result in a penalty during the game, nor any response from NHL Player Safety afterward. Johansson was helped off the ice following the hit, ending his night late in the second period. Tensions flared in response to the incident, not helped along by the fact that referee Chris Lee told Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek – who didn’t see the initial hit – that Johansson struck himself in the face with his own stick, per Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News.

Johansson will now head to IR for the first time this season. He’s been one of the few regulars in Minnesota’s injury-strewn year, and even then still missed one of the team’s 45 games this season with an upper-body injury in October. Consistency hasn’t meant high scoring for Johansson, who sits with just five goals and 16 points on the season. That puts him on pace for 30 points through 82 games this season, which would tie Johansson’s scoring total from last year. Johansson has continued to fill a serviceable middle-six role for the Wild, averaging just under 16 minutes of ice time.

This will be yet another injury for the Minnesota Wild to bear through. They’re already missing a chunk of the top of their lineup, including going without Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Brock Faber for at least the last four games. Their silver lining is the return of winger Jakub Lauko, who was activated off of long-term injured reserve earlier on Thursday after missing Minnesota’s last 15 games with a lower-body injury. Lauko’s injury, suffered on December 15th, came just over a week after he was activated off of IR from a previous injury, which had him on the shelf from November 26th to December 9th.

Lauko has only appeared in 24 games this season as a result of the back-to-back injuries. He has two goals, six points, and 16 penalty minutes in that span – continuing his lack of scoring from his 10-point season last year. He’s been a true fourth-line forward for the Wild, but might be called upon to help support the middle-six in Johansson’s absence.

After Johansson’s IR placement, Minnesota will move forward down two forwards. The Athletic’s Russo shares that he’s expecting the team to make a call-up in response, but their cap situation will make even that process stressful. Russo points out that Minnesota would exceed the salary cap by recalling two forwards, and may need to retroactively place Kaprizov on LTIR to open their finances. Minnesota could also turn towards an emergency call-up, but would first need to play a game without a full roster. The former option certainly seems more feasible, with Minnesota then likely to turn towards their cheaper options in the minor leagues. Travis Boyd, Ben Jones, Michael Milne, Brendan Gaunce, and Devin Shore all carry league-minimum ($775K) cap hits and have been previously called up at some point this season. They could make up the list of top options this week, while players like Liam Ohgren and Riley Heidt will be pricier, but more high-upside, bets.

Minnesota’s next game will come on Saturday, when they travel to Nashville to take on the struggling Predators. The Wild have set a 2-3-0 in their last five games while grappling with major injuries.

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