The Wild have added Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek back onto the roster ahead of their anticipated return Wednesday night against the Sharks at Xcel Energy Center after both have been sidelined with injury for weeks.
Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek skated Wednesday morning at Tria Rink after practicing Tuesday, and the Wild sent forwards Devin Shore and Brendan Gaunce back to the minors.
Both Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek have been dealing with lower-body injuries, with Kaprizov out the last 28 games and undergoing surgery after last playing Jan. 26. He initially exited the lineup coming out of the holiday break to address a lingering issue that wasn’t really serious; coach John Hynes mentioned the star winger was sore going into the break.
But after missing 12 games, Kaprizov returned for only three before he was shut down for surgery, halting his MVP-caliber season. His 23 goals and 52 points still rank third on the team.
Eriksson Ek appeared in one game after representing Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off and has sat out 21 straight, the center not feeling good after a practice — what Hynes described as a “usage injury” and not the result of a specific incident.
Each player was expected to suit up before the regular season ended, and that’s why the Wild didn’t spend extravagantly at the trade deadline, as they were saving cap space for their preplayoff returns.
“It’s exciting,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “To have those two guys back is huge for our team emotionally and obviously just on the ice what they can give us. We know it’s not going to be where they come back and it’s going to be a cakewalk. We understand that we gotta still be tense and still play with that jam.
“It’s never easy coming back from injury, especially the length they’ve been out for and then hop right back into it and be producing the way they were going into injury. So, we just gotta help them out, but the excitement level’s gotta be there when you have two guys like that coming.”
