The Wild will be without the services of forward Mikael Granlund.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau announced on Tuesday that Granlund would miss at least the next four games.
Although four games doesn’t sound like a lot, Minnesota has a ton of off-days this month. Which means if the Wild are guaranteed to be without Granlund for at least four games, he might not be able to return until Oct. 21.
What’s wrong with him?
Granlund suffered a groin injury in the team’s season opener against Detroit and has been out of the lineup ever since.
The 25-year-old led the team in points (69) last season and signed a lucrative three-year contract this summer.
Why is it a problem?
With Granlund sidelined, fellow forward Zach Parise is practicing for the first time with his teammates – but it remains to be seen if he’s indeed ready to dress for a game.
And because Parise and Granlund aren’t on injured reserve, the team can’t call up an extra forward from Iowa because of their cap space drama.
Related: The Wild face a major salary cap problem.
So now what?
If Parise can’t go on Thursday, Minnesota will have to play down a forward, which is exactly what happened last Saturday. They dressed seven defensemen – typically you dress six – and double shifted a forward with the vacancy on the offense.
It appears, at least for now, that Boudreau would not want the extra defender playing the role of a forward.
So if Parise isn’t healthy enough to play on Thursday, this is the situation the Wild will have to deal with.
