Kaprizov and Spurgeon Returning for Wild, Activated from IR

The Minnesota Wild announced on Thursday that the team has activated forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon from Injured Reserve. Both will play in the game tonight versus the Utah Hockey Club.

Coach Hynes said on Wednesday, “[We are] cautiously optimistic that they’ll be back for tomorrow.” The team confirmed the speculation first thing on Thursday. It’s a huge addition for the team, which currently sits second in the Central Division behind the Winnipeg Jets and fourth in the Western Conference.

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Kaprizov, sidelined since December 23 with a lower-body injury, has been the team’s top offensive star engine and a regular MVP candidate. He started the season off extremely hot and was an early Hart candidate and Rocket Richard hopeful. Despite only playing in 34 games this season, he still sits 11th in the NHL in goals.

Meanwhile, Spurgeon, the team’s captain, returns after suffering an injury on December 31 from a controversial slew-foot by Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux. It was expected he would be out 2-3 weeks.

Kaprizov, Spurgeon Returns Could This Spark a Wild Run for Minnesota

The team has cooled off a little and gone 5-4 in the month of January. With both Kaprizov and Spurgeon healthy, the Wild are in a strong position to regain momentum.

Their return not will not only give the team a bit of an expected boost, but the timing is right as the second half of the season is ready to go and the organization will need to make some big decisions heading into the trade deadline. If they want to make a deep playoff run, they need to know how good they are with a mostly healthy lineup or what they need.

Defenseman Jonas Brodin (lower body) and winger Marcus Johansson (concussion) are still out with injuries. Neither has started skating.

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