Minnesota Wild Place Marcus Foligno On IR
The Minnesota Wild placed veteran forward Marcus Foligno on injured reserve today, according to an official announcement. Wild head coach John Hynes told the media yesterday, including The Hockey News’ Dylan Loucks, that there was no update on Foligno’s status other than he wouldn’t be able to play on Sunday.
Even with a designation retroactive to the last time he played (Feb. 27 against the Utah Mammoth), Foligno will have to miss at least the team’s next two games, coming tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Friday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Foligno is dealing with a lower-body injury, but the full extent of the injury, or a more detailed recovery timeline, has yet to be provided.
Foligno’s injury costs the Wild a key veteran leader in their forward group. Although his offense isn’t what it once was (he scored 14 goals and 29 points last season, but has just six goals and 11 points this year), he remains a key defensive forward and penalty killer for the team. This year, Foligno has resumed his role on the penalty kill, averaging 1:29 time-on-ice per game while short handed.
While the addition of Fabbri to the roster provides some experienced reinforcement, he’s not an exact, or even approximate, replacement for what Foligno provides. The 34-year-old has appeared on Selke Trophy ballots four times in his career, while Fabbri, on the other hand, has rarely killed penalties in his career.
If Foligno’s injury keeps him sidelined for an extended period, it’s possible the Wild could be motivated to add a veteran defensive winger before the trade deadline, or perhaps a penalty kill specialist. With Foligno out, his minutes on the penalty kill are likely to trickle down to two other veteran contributors: Yakov Trenin and Marcus Johansson.
On The Athletic’s trade board penned by insider Chris Johnston, several depth wingers with varying degrees of defensive ability were listed, including Vancouver Canucks pivot Teddy Blueger (1:49 per game on the penalty kill), Chicago Blackhawks winger Ilya Mikheyev (2:47 per game short-handed), and former Wild deadline addition Gustav Nyquist.
Injury Notes: Stone, Jones, Eriksson Ek, Foligno
Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone left this afternoon’s action in Pittsburgh and did not return. After the game head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters, including SinBin.vegas, it was upper-body, with no real update until tomorrow.
It seemed to be an innocuous play, where Kris Letang simply bumped into him for position in the neutral zone, but Stone went to the bench immediately. His day ended after just 6:06 on the ice. It’s not clear at this time if the ailment is related to his wrist issue which has bothered the star throughout the season.
When healthy, the 33-year-old has continued to play at an elite level, with 60 points in just 42 games. Already placed on LTIR once earlier this year, as well as in the past, it will be curious to see what comes next for the veteran with the trade deadline looming.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Panthers defenseman Seth Jones was spotted this morning at practice in a regular jersey, per Jameson Olive, Director of Digital Platforms for the team. The 31-year-old is working his way back from his upper-body injury which happened during the Winter Classic and has now shed the non-contact jersey. Unfortunately, the ailment cost the Texas native a spot on the eventual Olympic gold winning Team USA, as Jackson LaCombe took his place. Nonetheless, Jones will provide a big boost to a Panthers group which is seeking to defy the odds and claw their way back into the playoffs after a season ravaged by injuries. The veteran figures to return sometime this week, but Florida is currently on a four game road trip running through Friday.
- Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek is good to go today against the Blues, head coach John Hynes shared, later posted by the team. The center took a high stick close to his eye on Friday, the team recalling Tyler Pitlick in case he was unable to play. Eriksson Ek has played in 54 of the club’s 60 games so far, posting 42 points. Pitlick is still in the lineup however, as Marcus Foligno is absent with a lower-body injury per the team. The 34-year-old has shown signs of offensive regression this year with just six goals in 48 games, but he’s still a vital leader for the group, 77 games away from reaching the 1,000 mark. Foligno could return as soon as Tuesday against Tampa Bay.
Injury Notes: Bennett, Avalanche, Rielly, Foligno
Outside of losing an important divisional matchup to the Buffalo Sabres, the Florida Panthers also suffered a loss to their roster. During the contest, the Panthers announced that Sam Bennett had left the game with an upper-body injury.
At this point, there’s no clear answer for how Bennett sustained the injury. Regardless, he joins a growing list of injured players in Florida as their quest for a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final continues to slip away. Bennett finished the game with a -1 rating in 5:11 of action.
If Bennett is unable to play in tomorrow’s game against the Boston Bruins, the Panthers will assuredly need to make a recall to their forward core. The Panthers were already without forwards Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand, and Tomas Nosek. Additionally, forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonah Gadjovich, and defensemen Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov are all on the team’s injured reserve.
Additional injury updates:
- Despite returning defenseman Devon Toews in last night’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Colorado Avalanche remain waiting for a pair of top-six forwards to return. According to Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports, the Avalanche hope that Martin Nečas will return tomorrow. Additionally, although he’s expected to play tomorrow, captain Gabriel Landeskog is nearing a return and is poised to play with Team Sweden for the upcoming Olympics. The 33-year-old winger has not played since January 4th due to an upper-body injury.
- Before taking the ice against the Calgary Flames yesterday, The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t return defenseman Morgan Rielly to the lineup before the Olympic break. Rielly left Toronto’s recent win over the Vancouver Canucks due to an upper-body injury. Given that he’s not playing for Team Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympics, Rielly will likely return after the international event, but the Maple Leafs couldn’t specify a recovery timeline.
- The Minnesota Wild were without a middle-six forward last night against the Montreal Canadiens. Before the drop of the puck, the Wild announced that Marcus Foligno would miss the game because of illness. The 34-year-old forward had been playing better of late, scoring three goals and eight points in his last 15 games, including the first hat trick of his career a few weeks ago. He’s not expected to miss the Wild’s final contest before the Olympic break.
Minnesota Wild Activate Marcus Foligno, Reassign Hunter Haight
Earlier today, the Minnesota Wild made their activation of veteran winger Marcus Foligno from injured reserve official, and reassigned Hunter Haight to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
Foligno, 34, hasn’t played since Nov. 26 due to a lower-body injury, an injury that ultimately cost him nine games. Foligno is a key defensive forward and off-ice leader for the Wild, someone who provides value to head coach John Hynes even when he’s not producing. That’s been the case this season, as Foligno has just two assists and no goals in 23 games played. He managed 14 goals and 29 points last season, but that offense has seemingly dried up this year.
Foligno is still the Wild’s No. 4 penalty-killing forward in terms of ice time this season, behind Matt Boldy, Nico Sturm, and Joel Eriksson Ek. His return will give the Wild’s penalty kill a much-needed boost, as despite the team’s incredible run of form, their penalty kill only ranks 22nd in the NHL in success rate. Getting Foligno back should help increase that number, even if it may come at the cost of some offensive production.
Now healthy and back in the lineup, the clear mandate for Foligno, beyond just maintaining his level of consistency as a defensive forward, will be finding ways to get back onto the scoresheet with a little bit more regularity. While he could certainly maintain his lineup spot as a leader and pure defensive specialist, the level of investment the Wild have in him changes the expectations surrounding his play.
He’s set to cost the club $4MM against the cap through 2027-28, and at that rate, the Wild are likely looking for a level of production more in line with last season’s numbers. The Wild are unlikely to expect Foligno to do much offensive heavy lifting, but he’s capable of being a more impactful secondary scorer than he’s been so far in 2025-26.
Foligno’s return cost Haight his spot on the NHL roster, but that’s not a massive surprise as Haight has been shuffled between Iowa and Minnesota quite a few times this season.
The 2022 second-round pick has scored five goals and six points in 16 AHL games this season and has dressed for two NHL games, though the most recent was on Oct. 11. Haight’s contract carries a two-way structure with an $800K NHL salary and $82.5K AHL salary. While he didn’t play any games on his most recent recall, his time on the NHL roster did have a notable financial benefit.
Wild Expected To Activate Marcus Foligno From IR
Marcus Foligno will be back in the Wild lineup tonight versus the Capitals, head coach John Hynes told reporters (including Jessi Pierce of NHL.com). They don’t have a roster spot available to remove him from injured reserve, so one of their many banged-up skaters will have to take his place on IR. That will likely be defenseman Jonas Brodin, who’s out tonight and has already missed two games with an undisclosed injury. Placing him on IR would only rule him out for tonight’s game; he’d be eligible to return Thursday against the Blue Jackets.
Foligno sustained a lower-body injury against the Blackhawks back on Nov. 26. He was listed as week-to-week and makes his return tonight with just one full practice under his belt, although that’s understandable given how many bodies Minnesota is missing from its forward group.
The 34-year-old leaves behind Vinnie Hinostroza and Mats Zuccarello on IR. On top of those two, Marcus Johansson sustained a lower-body injury in Sunday’s trouncing of the Bruins and is listed as day-to-day, Hynes said.
Foligno’s lower-body issue, plus an upper-body one that cost him one game earlier in the year, has limited him to 23 appearances this season. Long viewed as one of the better defensive wingers in the league, he always maintained enough point production to warrant consistent top-nine minutes.
That hasn’t been the case this year. He’s yet to score a goal and has just two assists.
He has 21 shots on goal and is bound to shed his poor shooting luck at some point, but his 0.91 shots on goal per game are still the lowest of his 15-year career. His average ice time of 13:07 per game is his lowest since the 2018-19 campaign, and he’s no longer featuring on Minnesota’s top penalty kill unit, losing that job to Matt Boldy.
Still, an experienced top-nine option is a boon to a Wild group that’s still rolling out names like Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Ben Jones, and Tyler Pitlick in its bottom six, regardless of his offensive struggles this season. Those three have combined for only two points in 41 games.
Also missing from the Wild lineup tonight will be veteran rearguard Zach Bogosian, Hynes said. Like Johansson, he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury he sustained against Boston.
Central Notes: Cooley, Foligno, Rossi, McCarron
The Utah Mammoth were shut out yesterday by the St. Louis Blues, an unfortunate outcome for Utah that was made even more unfortunate due to an apparent injury suffered by star center Logan Cooley. The 2022 No. 3 pick had to be helped off the ice yesterday after a collision with Blues forward Alexei Toropchenko. Toropchenko did not receive a penalty on the play initially, but was assessed a match penalty after the game’s officials convened.
While we are currently awaiting an official update on Cooley’s status, FanDuel Sports Network’s Andy Strickland reported that Cooley “avoided serious injury” and that his apparent injury yesterday was more “very painful” muscle cramping than any kind of serious structural damage. Assuming Strickland’s report is accurate, that would be a massive, positive development for the Mammoth. Cooley is among their most important offensive players with 23 points in 26 games. He recently signed an eight-year, $10MM AAV contract extension to remain in Utah.
Other notes from the Central Division:
- Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes told the media yesterday, including The Athletic’s Joe Smith, that forward Marcus Foligno will not travel with the team for its upcoming four-game road trip. In addition, he said the club is still evaluating whether center Marco Rossi will travel. Foligno is on IR with a lower-body injury and has missed each of the Wild’s last two games. Rossi is also on IR with a lower-body injury but is further along than Foligno by all accounts. He’s missed the Wild’s last eight games, last playing on Nov. 11.
- The Nashville Predators may be without towering forward Michael McCarron for a short while, as head coach Andrew Brunette revealed, per team reporter Brooks Bratten, that McCarron is currently considered “day-to-day” with an undisclosed injury. According to Bratten, McCarron “didn’t play much after his fight with Logan Stanley in the first period,” which could be the cause of his injury. If McCarron misses any games, the Predators won’t lose much offense (he has just five points in 25 games) but will likely miss McCarron’s penalty killing. He ranks second among Predators forwards in short-handed time on ice per game with 2:26.
Wild Place Marcus Foligno On Injured Reserve
The Wild placed winger Marcus Foligno on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 26, due to a lower-body injury, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. Fellow winger Nicolas Aubé-Kubel was recalled from AHL Iowa yesterday in advance of the move. Minnesota still has an open roster spot and $3.43MM in cap space after the moves, per PuckPedia.
Foligno departed Wednesday’s overtime win over the Blackhawks late in the second period after getting tangled up with Chicago forward Oliver Moore (video via @BlackhawksFocus on X). The Wild haven’t issued a timeline for his return, but the IR placement rules him out of their next three games. The earliest he can return is Dec. 4 against the Flames.
The lower-body injury is another dent in what’s been a disastrous campaign for Foligno to date. Viewed as one of the league’s top defensive wingers for the last several years, he’s arguably been the Wild’s worst regular forward in 2025-26. His 13:07 average time on ice is his lowest in seven years, and in the reduced deployment, he’s yet to score a goal and only has 21 shots through 23 games. He’s on pace to average under a shot on goal per game for the first time in his 15-year NHL career, and he’s only managed two assists as part of a Minnesota bottom-six forward group that’s been starved for offense.
Even defensively, Foligno has seen significant regression this season. While the lack of offense has no doubt contributed to his -10 rating, tied for the worst on the team, the Wild are allowing 2.49 goals against per 60 minutes with Foligno on the ice at 5-on-5. That’s the fifth-worst figure on the team among players with at least 100 minutes of ice time. Some of his more under-the-hood numbers are better – his 2.63 expected goals against per 60 minutes are actually eighth-best out of 21 qualified Minnesota skaters, and his 28.29 scoring chances against per 60 minutes are ninth-best.
Still, the lack of offensive production from the 34-year-old isn’t a good sign for the Wild getting positive value out of the remainder of the four-year, $16MM extension he signed in 2023. He’s under contract through the 2027-28 season at a $4MM cap hit and carries a no-movement clause that downgrades to a 15-team no-trade list on July 1, 2026.
Foligno’s IR placement brings the Wild’s count of unavailable forwards to five. He joins Ryan Hartman, Vinnie Hinostroza, Marco Rossi, and Vladimir Tarasenko on the list.
West Notes: Hughes, Foegele, Thomas, Foligno
The Canucks were without their top defenseman tonight against Edmonton as Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province notes that Quinn Hughes was scratched due to a lower-body injury. Head coach Adam Foote indicated that the absence should be short-term, at least, as Hughes is listed as day-to-day. The 26-year-old didn’t appear to be impacted by the injury on Saturday against Montreal as he picked up two assists and logged more than 26 minutes of playing time, right around his season average. Hughes is off to another strong start to his season, picking up seven points in nine games while his 26:38 ATOI is an NHL high.
More from out West:
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that winger Warren Foegele exited tonight’s game against Chicago with an injury and will not return. The injury occurred in the first period on a hit from Nick Foligno and he looked to be favoring his shoulder afterward. After putting up his second straight season of at least 20 goals and 40 points in 2024-25, Foegele has had a slow start to his campaign with just one point – a goal – in his first ten outings. There was no update on his status after the game, mentions Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link).
- The Blues announced (Twitter link) last night that center Robert Thomas sustained an upper-body injury, causing him to leave the game early. Losing the 26-year-old for any amount of time would be a tough blow for St. Louis as he’s their top center and is coming off back-to-back seasons of more than 80 points. He has six points in eight outings so far this year after getting off to a bit of a quiet start. The Blues don’t have an open roster spot at the moment so they’d need to make a roster move before calling up a replacement for Thomas if one is needed.
- Wild winger Marcus Foligno is dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss tonight’s game against San Jose, relays Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The veteran has already had X-rays but the results are not yet known. Foligno is off to a tough start to his season offensively as he has been held off the scoresheet in his first nine appearances although he’s averaging a little over three hits per game.
Central Notes: Foligno, Heiskanen, Robertson, Bridgestone Arena
In an engaging article from Joe Smith at The Athletic, Smith performed a deep dive on the injury-plagued seasons of Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno over the past few years. Foligno’s injuries, largely in his core abdominal muscles, began negatively impacting his life off the ice, leading to doubt concerning his playing career.
As Smith points out in the article, Foligno’s play style has a part to play. He’s been an aggressive forechecker for his entire career, amassing 2,614 hits (2.98 hits/game) in 875 regular-season contests. That aggression only increases in the postseason, where Foligno has delivered 154 hits (5.31 hits/game) in 29 playoff appearances.
Unfortunately, as Foligno puts it in the article, his tenacity on the ice caught up to him off the ice. Smith quoted Foligno saying, “There were some dark days going through that stuff and thinking about the future and thinking about, how are you going to manage through this injury? You’re thinking about it: ‘Will this (surgery) really solve all my problems?’ You’re really banking on coming out of it. There’s always a bit of gray area, little bit of fogginess where it comes to like, ‘Am I going to be the player I once was before these injuries started piling up?’”
Now that his surgery is in the rearview mirror, we know how the surgery turned out for Foligno. The 14-year veteran appeared in 70 or more games for the first time since the 2021-22 season, scoring 14 goals and 29 points. Meanwhile, he set a career-high in hits with 253, placing him in the league’s top 10.
Other notes from the Central Division:
- After splitting the first two games in Dallas, the Stars and Avalanche are headed north for Game 3 and Game 4 of their opening-round matchup. According to Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports, defenseman Miro Heiskanen will travel with the team while forward Jason Robertson will not. Given that he’s already returned to skating, there’s a strong chance that the Stars will welcome Heiskanen back at some point in Colorado. Meanwhile, Robertson’s recovery is only a few days into a week-to-week prognosis, meaning there’s very little chance of him returning during Round One.
- Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators, is getting a major makeover (Article Link). The arena announced a $1B renovation set to take place over the next 15 to 20 years that “aims to increase seating capacity, introduce new seating options, and create various fan communal areas.” The project will begin after the 2026-27 NHL season and will start with replacing the outer concrete of the building with glass walls facing Broadway.
West Notes: Foligno, Kiviranta, Stephenson
Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno returned to the lineup last night, dressing for the first time in almost two weeks (as per Michael Russo of The Athletic). The 33-year-old missed five games due to an upper-body injury but suited up against Washington and was +1 in 18:10 of play. The veteran winger is having a routine season by his standards, tallying 11 goals and 11 assists in 68 games with 66 PIM and 221 hits.
The Wild are clinging to the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference despite dealing with injuries to some of their top players. The team welcomed defenseman Jonas Brodin back earlier this week, and with Foligno now returning it looks as though Minnesota should get most players back by the beginning of the postseason.
In other Western Conference notes:
- Colorado Avalanche forward Joel Kiviranta missed last night’s game with a lower-body injury (as per Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports). It’s the first game that Kiviranta has missed this season as he has made 72 appearances while averaging 12:30 of ice time per game. No word yet on how long Kiviranta is expected to be out but there should be an update before the Avalanche take on St. Louis on Saturday afternoon. The 29-year-old has set a career-high this season in goals (16), assists (7) and points (23) and likely won’t have to settle for a one-year deal at league minimum this summer when he re-enters free agency.
- Seattle Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson practiced yesterday in a full-contact jersey but did not play last night against the Edmonton Oilers (as per Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times). Stephenson suffered an upper-body injury back on March 19th in a game against Minnesota and has missed the past two games. Given that he has returned to full contact, it seems likely that the 30-year-old will return to the lineup at some point in the next week. Stephenson signed a massive seven-year contract ($6.25MM AAV) with the Kraken last July, and while the deal was a massive overpay, Stephenson has provided depth offense this season in more of a defensive role, posting 11 goals and 37 assists in 69 games.