It’s a bad news Sunday for the Minnesota Wild as they have been hammered by injuries early in the season, with the latest injury forcing the team to put star defenseman Matt Dumba on injured reserve.
Dumba, who is officially diagnosed with a lower-body injury, fell to the ice awkwardly when he collided with teammate Jordan Greenway during Minnesota’s 5-1 loss to Colorado on Saturday.
“You guys all saw it. Obviously it doesn’t look good. Who knows how long?” said head coach Dean Evason before Sunday’s game against Colorado, according to Dane Mizutani.
Being placed on injured reserve means Dumba will miss at least 7 days.
Meanwhile, forward Mats Zuccarello has been placed on long-term injured reserve as he continues to recover from surgery on his arm. Long-term IR means Zuccarello, who has yet to play this season, will miss at least another 24 days or 10 games.
It gets worse as top 2020 draft pick Marco Rossi has been ruled out for the rest of the season as he recovers after a COVID-19 diagnosis. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, Rossi is expected to make a fully recovery, though his symptoms lingered. Per Russo:
“Rossi will return to Minnesota in six weeks to be re-evaluated by doctors. But until then, he’s supposed to stay off the ice, not work out and pretty much take it easy. The objective is for Rossi to solely worry about his health and focus on getting ready for training camp next fall.”
Marcus Johansson is also out Sunday night due to an undisclosed injury, as is forward Marcus Foligno, who is in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Gerry Mayhew, Luke Johnson, and Kyle Rau have been called up and will be in uniform for the Sunday night game against Colorado. Minnesota is also without forward Kevin Fiala, who is serving the second game of a three-game suspension.
