The Wild will be without goaltender Devan Dubnyk for the foreseeable future.
Dubnyk missed Wednesday’s practice and it was announced on Thursday he’s dealing with a family situation. In 14 games this season, Dubnyk is 4-8-2 with a 3.35 GAA and a .893 save percentage, which are all career lows since arriving in Minnesota.
Backup Alex Stalock will start against the Avalanche on Thursday evening. Stalock has been a steadier option in net, going 4-3-2 with a 2.63 GAA and a .911 SV% this season.
With Dubnyk out, the Wild recalled Kaapo Kahkonen from Iowa. Kahkonen was a fourth-round pick by Minnesota in 2014 and could be the successor to Dubnyk. In 10 games at the AHL level, Kahkonen is 7-2-2 with a 2.47 GAA and a .909 SV%.
Former Gopher hockey netminder Mat Robson is also playing well in Iowa and could be called up this season too.
The Wild are a quarter of the way through their schedule and are near the basement of the NHL standings going 8-11-2 with just 18 points.
If the season ended today, the Wild would have the third-best odds in the NHL Draft lottery.
