Wild optimistically move on without Kirill Kaprizov

There was no funereal atmosphere Friday as the Wild practiced at Tria Rink in St. Paul.

Young fans still banged on the glass and requested players trade them $300 sticks for $1 candy bars — genius, as it turned out, because it worked.

And Wild players seemed upbeat as they raced through drills without their injured teammate and leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov.

"It's not like he's dying," said his linemate and best buddy, Mats Zuccarello, "so his spirits are pretty good. He's hurt — that's hockey. Sad news, you want everyone to play, but that's part of hockey. This time it was him."

Kaprizov suffered a lower-body injury Wednesday when he was squashed after a check by Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley. Wild coach Dean Evason said Friday he thought a penalty could have been called, but didn't believe there was intent to injure on the play.

A 39-goal scorer this season, Kaprizov is expected to miss three to four weeks.

"Whenever someone gets an injury, I know everyone wants to know how long is it, is it day-to-day or week-to-week, but how do you know? How do you know until the healing process starts?" Evason said. "Everybody heals different, everybody's pain threshold is different.

"He's a pretty special guy, so we'll just go day-by-day here and get him as healthy as 100 percent before we get him back. He's played through a lot of stuff, so we'll expect him sooner than later."

In the short term, Sam Steel — a healthy scratch in 10 of the past 11 games — will take Kaprizov's spot on the top line with Zuccarello and center Ryan Hartman, and Hartman will move on to the No. 1 power play unit. Evason decided to leave his other groups intact with the Wild on a 9-1-1 streak.

"He's Kirill — you can't replace a guy like that," center Freddy Gaudreau said. "But it's hockey, it happens all the time, and that's the beauty of the team, we can do it. Of course you want him to come back as soon as possible ... but we have been missing key players here and there, and we just have to keep doing it as a team."

Kaprizov, the NHL's rookie of the year in 2020-21, set team records for goals, assists and points last season and seemed to be a threat to become the first 50-goal scorer in franchise history.

"Kirill's an amazing player, he's one of the best players in the world, no question," Evason said. "Sure, he scores more goals than a few guys, but he doesn't get treated any differently than anyone else ...

"He doesn't go down very easily. He's gritty, determined, doesn't dive, doesn't flop, doesn't do all those things. Maybe if he did, he wouldn't be in that spot [Wednesday]. He's not going down, he's doing everything he possibly can to stay on his feet, to make a play, to try to score a goal, to try to defend. He's as gritty a superstar as you'll ever see."

The Wild have games Saturday in San Jose and Sunday in Arizona, and likely will also be without injured forwards Gustav Nyquist (shoulder) and Brandon Duhaime (upper body), and defenseman Jonas Brodin (lower body). All three skated Friday before practice, indicating they're on the road to recovery. Rookie Sammy Walker, who was called up from Iowa, shared time on the fourth line at practice and could play this weekend.

And, for the Wild, life will go on.

"It's never going to be easy when you lose your best player," Zuccarello said. "One guy can't fill his [shoes], not any of us, not many players in the league can. It's got to be a collective effort. We all have the same goal in mind, to win hockey games.

"We would like to do it with him but … right now, he can enjoy his three, four weeks, and get some energy, and be full of energy and be ready for the playoffs."