Do you want the good news or bad news first?
The good news: Kirill Kaprizov will return from injury and play for the Minnesota Wild Saturday against the St. Louis Blues. Kaprizov missed the past 14 games with a lower-body injury.
The bad news: Joel Eriksson Ek suffered a lower-body injury in Pittsburgh Thursday night and head coach Dean Evason says the Wild star is being evaluated on a week-to-week basis.
Joel Eriksson Ek is week to week with a lower body injury. Absolutely devastating to a team with little center depth. Oskar Sundqvist (lower body) is day to day.
Again, sounds like Kirill Kaprizov is on verge of return. Wild will need a forward from Iowa
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 7, 2023
Eriksson Ek was helped off the ice Thursday after he took a slap shot to his leg. If he misses more than a week his status for the first round of the playoffs is in jeopardy. One week from today (Friday) the regular season ends, so it appears likely that Minnesota will be without their standout two-way center for the last four games of the regular season.
- Wild vs. St. Louis on Saturday
- Wild at Chicago on Monday
- Wild vs. Winnipeg on Tuesday
- Wild at Nashville on Thursday
The playoffs begin three days after the end of the regular season, so the first possible date of a Wild postseason game is April 17. That gives Eriksson Ek just 10 days to recover from whatever injury he suffered if he’s going to be ready to help Minnesota in Game 1 of their playoff series.
Minnesota enters play Friday with 98 points, good for third in the Central Division – two points behind Dallas and Colorado, though Colorado has one game in hand.
