Kirill Kaprizov didn’t think he’d be out of commission for as long as he was, but the Wild winger believes he’s put the injury that sidelined him for the last month behind him.
Kirill Kaprizov ‘just happy to come back’ after one-month absence from Wild lineup
The team’s leading scorer didn’t talk about his lower-body injury after morning skate as the team prepared for tonight’s game against Utah.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 23, 2025 at 6:28PM
Kaprizov will return tonight against Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center after sitting out 12 games because of a lower-body injury.
“Just something happened,” Kaprizov said. “I just don’t want to talk about this a lot. It’s now good.”
At the time of his injury, the native of Russia was an NHL MVP frontrunner and among the top scorers in the league.
His 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points still lead the Wild, and the winger hopes he can get back to being the player he was before he got hurt.
“I just try don’t think about this,” Kaprizov said. “Now I am just happy to come back. I don’t play one month. I don’t think about points or something like that. I just want to feel good in the game.”
The Wild will also have captain Jared Spurgeon back in action after the defenseman missed nine games with ankle and knee injuries from getting slew-footed into the boards on New Year’s Eve by Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux, who reached out to Spurgeon in the aftermath.
This was the second time this season Spurgeon has been shelved; after season-ending hip and back surgeries a year ago, Spurgeon was out again in October to continue to heal but was a stabilizing presence on the blue line in his return. In 32 games, he has four goals and nine assists.
“That was the most frustrating part,” Spurgeon said, “that last year you go through all that stuff and work your way back and feel healthy again, and all of a sudden something like that happens. So, I think that was the most frustrating part, just having to go back in the gym doing the same stuff all over again. It brings back some bad memories.”
Defenseman Jonas Brodin (lower body) and winger Marcus Johansson (concussion) are still on the mend, but this as close as the Wild have been to full strength since mid-November.
They went 7-5 without Kaprizov to stay in the top 10 in the league.
“We just try play same,” Kaprizov said. “We know how we play. We know our tactics. We know what we want to do. We just try to win games.”
The team’s leading scorer didn’t talk about his lower-body injury after morning skate as the team prepared for tonight’s game against Utah.
