Kirill Kaprizov will have surgery and be out a minimum of four weeks for the Minnesota Wild because of a lower-body injury.
“It is not a season-ending injury, but it will put him on the shelf for the next little while,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Tuesday. “We’ve been down this road before, and it’s unfortunate.
“I mean, Kirill was having a Hart Trophy-type of season. It’s disappointing for him. It’s disappointing for us too."
The forward played the past three games since returning from a 12-game absence because of a lower-body injury that was considered day to day. Guerin said Jan. 2 and reiterated that Kaprizov was dealing with a non-serious issue that they wanted to be overly cautious with its healing.
Prior to his return, Kaprizov didn't resume skating until Jan. 9, and was placed on long-term injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 18.
Kaprizov was seemingly an early-season Hart Trophy contender as NHL MVP and was on pace for a 100-point season for the second time in his career. He was tied for second in the League in goals (23) and tied for fourth in points (50) through 34 games prior to his 12-game absence. Kaprizov currently ranks tied for 11th in goals and tied for 21st in points.
Despite his absence, he still leads Minnesota in all scoring categories with 23 goals, 29 assists and 52 points in 37 games and is first on the team with a plus-19 rating, and second with 12 power-play points, behind forward Matt Boldy (13).
Minnesota (29-17-4) was 7-5-0 without Kaprizov and is third in the Central Division, trailing the first-place Winnipeg Jets by nine points.
Kaprizov had two assists in three games since his return, but Guerin said he was only at “60 percent.” Kaprizov played 22:17 and had two shots on goal in a 4-2 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
“Kirill is very upset,” Guerin said. “Kirill is such a team-focused guy. And I think with what he has, he knows he could probably get by in games and try to help the team. But he doesn’t like it. Him at 60 percent is better than most players in the League, but he wants to be 100 percent and help us play as long as we can this year. And I agree with him.”
Wild coach John Hynes said, “Even on the bench at times, he was struggling to get through it. He did, and we did, everything we could to see if it would work for him, but it didn't. So, now we’ve got to go this direction."
Minnesota visits the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNW, FDSNNO, FDSNWI).
“Make no bones about it -- we’re a better hockey team with Kirill in the lineup. There’s no arguing that,” Guerin said. “But this is the reality of professional sports, and like I said, we’ll deal with it.
“We’re a good team, especially when we play a certain way, and we’ll be all right.”
