Kirill Kaprizov continues to make progress towards a return from a lower-body injury.
The star Minnesota Wild forward has missed the last eight games due to the injury, but he's skating on his own while continuing off-ice workouts, according to a report from The Athletic's Joe Smith. General manager Bill Guerin said Kaprizov could return as soon as Wednesday's game against Edmonton, per Smith's colleague, Michael Russo.
While Kaprizov could be back this week, Wild coach John Hynes did not "want to put a timeline" on his potential return, according to Smith, but added the fact Kaprizov is skating every day and continuing to do more and more each day is "a good sign."
There are signs Minnesota could be gearing up to have some players return soon.
On Monday, the Wild placed forwards Ben Jones and Devin Shore on waivers, which could be an indication they're planning to make more roster moves, like perhaps bring back Kaprizov, who is currently on injured reserve, or center Jakub Lauko, who is on the long-term injured reserve. The move also resets their waiver clock 10 games or 30 days and provides flexibility to potentially make other roster moves, per Russo.
Jones and Shore, who have played 25 and 24 games for the Wild this season, respectively, could both still be back as well. Jones has no points this season and a plus-minus of minus-3, while Shore has an assist and a plus-minus of minus-4.
Lauko's rehab has stagnated, Hynes told Smith, so it appears he's further off than Kaprizov. In other injury updates, per Smith, defensemen Jonas Brodin (lower body) and Brock Faber (upper body) are both still considered day to day. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who's on injured reserve, meanwhile, has started doing off-ice workouts.
