There are seven games left in the Minnesota Wild's regular season and Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek still appear to be on track to return from injuries before the playoffs.
Kaprizov, who has played in three games since Dec. 24 and hasn't played at all since Jan. 26, has been on long-term injured with a lower-body injury that required surgery.
On Tuesday, however, Wild head coach John Hynes revealed that Kaprizov is progressing and the expectation is for him to return to the lineup before the end of the regular season.
Hynes doesn't expect Kaprizov back for either game in New York Wednesday (Rangers) or Friday (Islanders), nor does he think Kaprizov will return for Sunday's game against the juggernaut Dallas Stars. That would leave four games left on the schedule for him to return.
The next step in Kaprizov's recovery process is taking contact. He's already returned to skating, and contact is the next phase on his timeline.
Hynes also revealed that forward Joel Eriksson Ek, also on long-term injured reserve for the past six weeks, could return before the end of the regular season as he continues to progress.
Eriksson Ek last played on Feb. 22.
“Positive feedback” is what John Hynes said about the Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek follow up appointments with the doctors.
Still expects them both to play before the end of the regular season. #mnwild— Joe O'Donnell (@WildJoeRadio) April 2, 2025
Minnesota was 34-19-4 on Feb. 23. Since then, they've gone 7-9-2 and fallen into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race. The St. Louis Blues won their 10th straight game Monday to move in front the Wild, who are still six points clear of Calgary for the last playoff spot.
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