Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov savors the relief of making it back just in time for the NHL playoffs

LAS VEGAS - Bored and grumpy.

That’s how Kirill Kaprizov felt during his recovery from surgery the past few months, as the Wild superstar went for walks, played on his computer and watched hockey on TV during his downtime.

“Nothing crazy,” he said.

But being out of commission for so long also affected the season he left on pause.

The early favorite for NHL MVP, Kaprizov’s chances of becoming the Wild’s first Hart Trophy winner were cratered by the lower-body injury that knocked him out of the lineup for 12 games before an abbreviated return and then shut him down for good at the end of January.

“First couple weeks it was a little hard,” Kaprizov said, “because I don’t know I need surgery or I don’t need surgery. I do surgery, OK, what’s going on now? I just need good recovery and [need to] come back and play again.”

Kaprizov reached that milestone April 9, lifting the Wild to an 8-7 victory over San Jose after he scored his second of two goals in overtime.

There’s no rewinding the season to try to match the scoring prowess of Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and reinsert himself into MVP contention. But there is an opportunity for Kaprizov to get back to being Kaprizov, and what better time for the Wild than their first-round playoff series against Vegas that begins Sunday?

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Kaprizov said. “Every game’s important because it’s playoffs. You can lose 7-0. You can win 10-0. Doesn’t matter, it’s still one game. You lose one game or win one game, and it’s best of seven.

“It’s always fun time, and you always have chance to show your best hockey and team best hockey — not just [me], but it starts for everyone. Then everyone show best one, what you can do, and team should be playing good.”

Losing Kaprizov took a toll on the Wild.

After all, they didn’t officially extend their season until their last game despite being comfortably ahead of the competition in the Western Conference as recently as a month ago — the Wild fell into a three-team race for the two wild cards as their offense struggled to score, which was less of an issue during Kaprizov’s first-half tear.

The Wild averaged just shy of three goals a game through Dec. 23, 2024, Kaprizov’s final appearance before he first exited the lineup for an extended stretch.

Kaprizov was tied for fourth in NHL scoring with 50 points at the time, and the left winger was lauded as the MVP frontrunner for spearheading the Wild’s turnaround after they failed to make the playoffs the previous season.

“You won a lot of games early in season, and it was a fun time always coming to the rink and everyone have fun here and outside on the road,” he said. “It’s fun when you win games. It’s always good when you score goals and have points. It’s always nice.”

After it was announced he’d have surgery, the Wild’s production, without Kaprizov, dipped to a league-worst 2.25.

He still led the team in goals until winger Matt Boldy passed him March 27.

“I don’t think about this when I play just 35 games or something because season long,” Kaprizov said when asked if it bothered him to miss out on MVP consideration. “You never know what can happen. It’s like what happen with me. I have injury, and you never know.”

After suiting up for the final four games of the regular season, Kaprizov logged 41 overall, totaling 25 goals and 31 assists.

In that sense, he might be more refreshed having played just half a season than he would otherwise, but being a difference-maker in the playoffs is no easy feat.

Take it from Kaprizov, who described his first playoffs in 2021 vs. the Golden Knights as “OK.”

He was dynamic during his second experience against the Blues — “I feel so good at that time,” said Kaprizov, who had seven goals in the series and a hat trick in Game 2. “It was nice year, too” — but then in 2023 he faced the Stars coming off an injury.

“I just try come back, help with the team,” Kaprizov recalled. “I was OK. I don’t score.”

Kaprizov, 27, is in a similar situation now, going into the playoffs on the heels of being sidelined, and this time he was out much longer.

The spotlight is on him, and he knows it.

Really, it’s been that way since the beginning.

“It doesn’t matter if you score, if you lose, it’s always pressure on you, especially on me,” Kaprizov said. “It’s outside, but I try just to be myself. That’s it.”