Wild hoping teammates in Italy all come back healthy

Wild forward Marcus Foligno has spent plenty of his life living on either side of the 49th parallel, but he’s a Canadian at heart. And as such, with three Minnesota teammates playing for Team USA and four members of the Wild on the Team Sweden roster, he was officially a neutral observer for the Americans’ 2-1 overtime win in the Olympic quarterfinals on Wednesday.

With a dozen or so members of the Wild watching on the big TV inside the team’s TRIA Rink locker room, perhaps the biggest moment of the game — prior to Quinn Hughes scoring the overtime winner off a set-up from Wild teammate Matt Boldy — came in the third period when Joel Eriksson Ek got up slowly after a hard hit.

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin, left, skates with the puck alongside Carolina Hurricanes left wing Eric Robinson (50) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

“I think everyone’s probably worried about 14 the most, with all of the little things he’s experienced across the last three or four seasons,” Foligno said following the team’s Thursday practice in St. Paul. “He’s a beast, and if we can just keep him healthy down the stretch, it’s huge for our team.”

Of the 10 Wild players that went to Italy, six of them are done playing and are returning to Minnesota mostly healthy for the re-start to the NHL season next week. For those who didn’t go to Europe, passport stamps from destinations such as Mexico, the Bahamas and Costa Rica were collected, a much-needed respite from the rigors of this condensed regular-season schedule.

“We’ve been playing so much, and not only physically but mentally, you can get drained sometimes,” Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt said. “I think it’s just a greater reset. It helps getting your mind off the game and coming back refreshed.”

On the Wild’s blue line, while Hughes and Brock Faber are still digging for gold in Milan, the break provided a chance for banged-up defensemen like Jonas Brodin and Zach Bogosian to get healthier for the March and April push for the playoffs.

“For Brodin to have that time off, where you’re not missing so many games, you can kind of dip into your rehab schedule with the days off that we have,” Foligno said.

Brodin last played in a Jan. 12 home game versus New Jersey and had surgery for a lower body injury that cost him a trip to the Olympics with Team Sweden. He has drawn praise from Wild teammates for prioritizing a potential run at the Stanley Cup over the Winter Game

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“That was huge. I think such an unselfish thing,” Foligno said. “He probably could’ve tried to fight through it and you know, maybe it would’ve done some more damage. Obviously, you lose out on the lifelong dream of playing in the Olympics. But to have a healthy Brodin down the stretch when we need him in the playoffs, that’s huge for our team.”

Brodin has not yet returned for practice, but Wild officials have said they are optimistic he is on track to return sometime following the break.

The Wild return to NHL play on Thursday, Feb. 26, with a game in Colorado versus the Central Division-leading Avalanche.