And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.

Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.

Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were full participants during practice and seem likely to return to the lineup on Thursday. Kaprizov, 27, has missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury. He was in line rushes with Mats Zuccarello and Marco Rossi so all signs point to him returning to the lineup.

Here is why the Wild should swing a trade for Flyers winger Bobby Brink ahead of the March 7th NHL Trade Deadline.

Minnesota's Mats Zuccarello has a team-leading 11 points in his last nine games and 17 points in his last 15 matchups versus the Edmonton Oilers

The Wild look to have superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon back in their lineup Thursday against Utah.

With a little over a minute left in the second period, Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon made the Wild look silly when he deked Trenin and tied the game with his 18th goal of the season. It came on just the Avalanche's 11th shot on goal in two periods.

The Minnesota Wild (28-15-4) host the Utah Hockey Club (20-19-7) during Thursday’s NHL schedule, starting at 8:00 PM ET at Xcel Energy Center and broadcast on ESPN+. The Wild sit in fourth place and the Utah Hockey Club are 11th in the Western Conference.

Utah continues the road trip tomorrow with a rematch against the Winnipeg Jets. Tomorrow’s game at Canada Life Centre will be the third meeting of the season between the teams after Winnipeg defeated Utah 3-0 on Nov. 5, and Utah returned the favor 5-2 on Jan. 20. Tomorrow’s puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT.

THROUGH GAMES OF WEDNESDAY, JAN. 22, 2025

It has been two months since we did a Wild mailbag and several months since we did an ‘Ask Russo and Smith’ mailbag, but with Joe back on the clock, there’s no better time to answer many of your questions.

The Minnesota Wild (27-15-4) are back in action tonight for one more game on the road before they return home. They will face the Colorado Avalanche (28-18-1) today for a 2:00 p.m. central time start.