Today Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin announced that Kirill Kaprizov will undergo surgery due to a lower-body injury sustained late in 2024.
Guerin confirmed that the surgery Kaprizov needs will not be the end of the Russian’s season. This is great news for Wild fans all over, who have looked great this year. Unfortunately, the minimum time missed for Kaprizov is four weeks per Guerin. A fast recovery would put Kaprizov’s return date at the end of February. Whether or not he will return then is still to be determined. A major reason for doing the surgery now could be that the Wild have zero games from Feb. 9th to 21 due to the new Four Nations Face-Off.
Without Kaprizov, the Wild have slipped from second in the Central Division, to third. Going without Kaprizov for a prolonged period will not help their slide, especially with the Colorado Avalanche hot on their heels. While the team lost their superstar for some time, the Avs have made a big trade acquisition, acquiring Martin Necas from Carolina. This shake-up could be exactly what the Avs needed to give them that boost to jump Minnesota in the standings. The Wild are going to need to play high-quality hockey over these next coming months to stay in the current playoff position.
As previously mentioned, the Wild don’t have any games from Feb. 9 to 21st. Hoping for the best and assuming that Kaprizov will be back by March 1, he will only miss nine games. That doesn’t sound great, but the Wild have gotten used to playing without their superstar winger. The hope is that the team can hunker down and hang onto their playoff position long enough for Kaprizov to return. Guerin noted that Kaprizov was unhappy about the news, so hopefully he is fully committed to returning to the ice as soon as possible.
The Wild are used to this, they have played without Kaprizov for a good chunk of this season. Kaprizov found himself in a similar position in the 2022-2023 season, and even though he had a weak playoff performance that year, he is hoping to rewrite the narrative. Ultimately, the Wild are a well-built team and should be okay without the Russian. Minnesota fans shouldn’t worry too much about the team’s playoff hopes, as they are still firmly in playoff position. Wishing Kirill a speedy recovery.
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