While they've dealt with an overabundance of injuries, the Minnesota Wild could get a key contributor back as soon as Saturday's home matinee against the Buffalo Sabres.
Jonas Brodin, who hasn't played since a Feb. 28 loss to the Colorado Avalanche due to a lower-body injury, has a "strong possibility but not a guarantee" to play against the Sabres on Saturday, Wild coach John Hynes told reporters on Friday. It felt more like a guarantee a few hours later when they reassigned defenseman David Jiricek to Iowa.
Brodin has been one of the Wild's better defensemen for several seasons, but injuries have limited him to just 38 games this year. He's put up 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists).
Jiricek skated in six games in January, tallying three points (1 goal, 2 assists).
If Brodin does indeed return on Saturday, that would be a big boost for the Wild, who have spent most of the season navigating injuries to many of their top players, such as Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, who both remain on the team's injured reserve.
The Wild host the Sabres for a 1 p.m. puck drop Saturday at the X in St. Paul, Minn.
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