Marcus Foligno’s season is over.
Wild winger Marcus Foligno out for remainder of season after core muscle surgery
The veteran alternate captain tried to play through the injury before surgery was necessary.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 3, 2024 at 12:19PM
The veteran Wild winger had successful core muscle surgery Tuesday after dealing with a groin injury that sidelined him throughout the second half.
Foligno missed the past two games and 12 in a row after getting hurt Feb. 9 against Pittsburgh. He finished with 10 goals and 12 assists and a team-high 179 hits in 55 games and is just two games shy of 800 in his NHL career. The 32-year-old is expected to recover before training camp starts in September.
He’s the second Wild player to have season-ending surgery: Captain Jared Spurgeon hasn’t played since January because of hip and back issues.
Two seasons ago, Foligno posted career-highs in goals (23), assists (19) and points (42) while owning the best shooting percentage in the NHL at 23.5%.
His production dipped last season. In May, he had hernia surgery after an up-and-down playoff series vs. Dallas in which Foligno scored during the Wild’s Game 3 victory, had two questionable penalties in Game 4 that preceded Stars’ goals and then was ejected from Game 5 for kneeing; the Wild were eliminated in Game 6.
After healing from surgery, Foligno worked on his quickness over the summer, showed up to camp feeling like himself again and soon landed a four-year, $16 million contract extension that has him signed through 2027-28.
An alternate captain, Foligno is among the longest-tenured players on the Wild.
In 451 games with the franchise, he has 77 goals and 101 assists following a trade from Buffalo in 2017.
Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks, an injury that pauses the Washington Capitals superstar captain’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record.
