At the NHL trade deadline a month ago, Wild general manager Bill Guerin didn’t make any blockbuster moves, insisting that the big additions for his club would be the return of Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek before regular season’s end.
With four games left, Guerin and Wild fans finally get some semblance of their full team back tonight when the San Jose Sharks come to St. Paul for a visit. On Wednesday afternoon, the Wild officially activated Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek from injured reserve.
After Wednesday’s morning skate, coach John Hynes said he was hopeful the pair could play against the Sharks.
“Obviously, it changes the dynamic of your lines and you have to move some things around,” Hynes said. “I think the most important thing is those guys have been off for a while and have worked hard to get back and we want them to come back and get into the game and bring what they can bring.”
The projected lineup sent out by the Wild’s social media team on Wednesday afternoon has Eriksson Ek centering the team’s top line between Marcus Foligno and Matt Boldy, and Kaprizov playing left wing on a line with Marco Rossi at center and Mats Zuccarello on the other wing.
The Wild reassigned forwards Devin Shore and Brendan Gaunce to Iowa to make room on the active roster.
Kaprizov has played in just three games since Christmas while dealing with a lower body injury and was shut down to have the ailment surgically repaired in late January. Eriksson Ek has played one game since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off, where he was part of Team Sweden. He has been out with a lower body injury since Feb. 25.
The Wild have gone 8-10-3 since then, and their once-comfortable lead in the playoff race has shrunk to just four points over Calgary for the final Western Conference postseason spot. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Flames have a game in hand on Minnesota, and host the Wild on Friday night in Calgary.
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