The Minnesota Wild are trying to stay afloat near the top of the West, a mission that will be easier if Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon return Thursday, as expected.

The Minnesota Wild have yet another defenseman unavailable on Thursday night, adding to an ever growing list of injury problems.

Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.

Dylan Loucks is the Site Admin and Reporter for the Minnesota Wild team site with The Hockey News. A resident of St. Paul, MN, Loucks has spent the last four years covering hockey and in his spare time likes to work on his expected goals model and other models he is creating.

Kirill Kaprizov’s monthlong layoff is over. The Wild’s leading scorer and captain Jared Spurgeon will be back in action Thursday when the Wild face Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center. Both practiced Wednesday at Tria Rink in St.

The Minnesota Wild have added defensemen Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber to their list of key ... The Wild also have been without star left wing Kirill Kaprizov (lower body), who missed his seventh straight game on Thursday. Kaprizov, who is tied for fourth ...

The Minnesota Wild will have two pivotal players in the lineup Thursday for the first time since late December.Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon will play against the Utah Hockey Club, sources told The Athletic's Michael Russo.

The Wild will be without Jonas Brodin for the next two games. The Minnesota Wild (26-12-4) are on the road for a back-to-back before they return home. They face the San Jose Sharks (13-25-6) on Saturday and the Vegas Golden Knights (28-10-3) on Sunday.

While Kaprizov could be back this week, Wild coach John Hynes did not "want to put a timeline" on his potential return, according to Smith, but added the fact Kaprizov is skating every day and continuing to do more and more each day is "a good sign." There are signs Minnesota could be gearing up to have some players return soon.

The Minnesota Wild host the Utah Hockey Club Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center, and could be getting two of their best players back from injury. Forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon were on the ice with the team at practice on Wednesday at TRIA Rink.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon will be in the lineup on Thursday.

And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.