Wild sideline Kaprizov for at least a month, with surgery needed on lingering lower-body injury
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov needs surgery on the lingering lower-body injury he recently returned from and will be sidelined for at least a month.
General manager Bill Guerin said during practice on Tuesday that Kaprizov is expected to be back with the team later this season, but the Wild must again compensate for the absence of their leading scorer and popular teammate.
“Kirill was having a Hart Trophy-type season. It’s disappointing for him. It’s disappointing for us, too, but we’ve put ourselves in a good position in the standings with the way we’re playing, and we just need to deal with the situation. It’s not the end of the world,” Guerin said. “We’re going to keep playing and continue to get better, and when Kirill’s healthy and all healed up, he’ll be back and we’ll be even better.”
The impact of Kaprizov absence will be stemmed a bit by the two-week break on the NHL schedule next month for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. If Kaprizov were to return in four weeks, for example, he'd only miss 10 games. But the Wild will certainly take another cautious approach to the recovery of their 27-year-old left wing, who has 23 goals and 29 assists in 37 games.
'“Kirill’s very upset. 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. Him at 60% is better than most players in the league, but he wants to be 100% and help us play as long as we can this year, and I agree with him,” Guerin said. “I don’t think it’s the best thing for a player to try to gut it out in this situation, because I think you leave yourself open to other injuries. I think the best thing to do is to shut him down right now for a little while, fix the problem, and then get him back to 100%.”
After missing 12 games over a month of inaction, Kaprizov rejoined the Wild last week. He played in three games, but he was not himself.
“Even on the bench at times, he was struggling to get through it," coach John Hynes said. “He did, and we did everything we could to see if it would work for him, but it didn’t.”
The Wild won at Chicago on Sunday, their first of five straight games, but they've lost six of their last nine and are 9-11 since mid-December. Going into the game at Atlantic Division leader Toronto on Wednesday, Minnesota (29-17-4) is in third place in the Central Division. The Wild, though, are 18-5-3, which is the best road record in the league.
“I’ve been very happy with the way that the team’s performed. Look, it’s never perfect. There’s always ups and downs," Guerin said. "You always want to be playing at your best, but that’s just not possible in an 82-game schedule. So you have to control your emotions during the highs and lows, and we’re in a good spot. We just have to stay there.”
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
