The Minnesota Wild had a new defenseman make his debut in red and green last weekend, and hardly anyone noticed. Seriously.
Amid all of the much-deserved hype about Quinn Hughes coming to Minnesota and taking his place on the Wild blue line, the local NHL club also welcomed Matt Kiersted back to his home state for his first game on the rink where every local kid dreams of playing.
“There was a lot going on, but it was pretty cool,” Kiersted said on Tuesday, reflecting on his time as a youth hockey player in Elk River. “Being from Minnesota, I grew up watching the Wild. To actually get into a game, to get to play for them in the regular season is pretty special.”
With regular defensemen Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton and now Zach Bogosian all missing due to injury, and Zeev Buium now playing for Vancouver, Kiersted was back on the ice at Grand Casino Arena on Tuesday versus the Capitals.
While he never made it to St. Paul on a state tournament team, he had played at the Wild’s home rink as a freshman at North Dakota, where he played four years. Saturday’s game versus Ottawa was actually his 40th on a NHL roster, having played the previous five seasons in the Florida Panthers organization, although he was not on their roster for either of the team’s runs to the Stanley Cup in 2024 or 2025.
Over the summer, he signed a two-year deal with the Wild worth $1.55 million and after being sent down during training camp, he notched three assists in 23 games with the Iowa Wild. His call-up to Minnesota was a last minute transaction, but Kiersted still had around 15 friends and family at the rink on Saturday to see his on-ice homecoming. Be became the 37th Minnesota-born player to appear in a regular season game for the Wild in their 25-year history.
He heard from several of his former Fighting Hawks teammates on his way to St. Paul for the debut.
“Everyone’s excited. They were congratulating me on the recall and hoping I can get into a game,” Kiersted said. He logged more than 20 minutes versus the Senators, getting 26 shifts. “I’m just doing anything I can to help the team win.”
He admitted that when he got the chance to sign with Minnesota and play closer to home, it was an easy choice to make.
Injury update
Wild coach John Hynes usually spends 20 seconds or so on gamedays updating the media about the current state of the team’s injured players and when they might return. On Tuesday morning, the team’s health report took a full minute and a half, and the coach joked that he’s starting to lose track amid all of the injuries.
He had good news, with Marcus Foligno returning after missing the previous nine contests with a lower body injury. Then came the bad news:
— Forward Marcus Johansson is day-to-day with a lower body injury.
— Defenseman Zach Bogosian is day-to-day with a lower body injury.
— Defenseman Jonas Brodin is day-to-day with an upper body injury.
— Defenseman Jake Middleton had testing done on Tuesday but remains day-to-day with an upper body injury.
— Forward Mats Zuccarello has begun skating but remains out day-to-day with an upper body injury.
— Forward Vinnie Hinostroza, who has missed the past dozen games with a lower body injury, has begun skating and is day-to-day.
The Wild came into Tuesday’s meeting with the Capitals having missed 111 man-games to injury so far. And that number grew as soon as the puck was dropped.
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