Kirill Kaprizov is Not Close to Returning

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Photo: David Berding - USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Wild get back on the ice Saturday afternoon vs the Chicago Blackhawks and they will be, once again, without their superstar, Kirill Kaprizov, who left a game vs the Jets on March 8 with a lower body injury and has yet to return.

Kirill Kaprizov “not close” to returning

Kirill’s injury timetable was originally 3-4 weeks but, now 2.5 weeks later, he is nowhere near a return to action. According to Michael Russo (The Athletic), Kaprizov isn’t skating yet and he will not travel with the team on their upcoming road trip, which doesn’t start until Wednesday (March 29) vs the Colorado Avalanche.

Wild playing well without their star

The Wild have fared surprisingly well in Kirill Kaprizov’s absence, especially for a team that relied so much on his offensive abilities, prior to injury. They are 4-2-1 in their 7 games without him and the rest of the team has been forced to step up as producers.

That rings especially true for Matt Boldy, who is on an absolute heater, scoring 8 goals (12 points) in the 7 games since Kirill left the lineup.

Tight Timeline

But obviously, the Minnesota Wild will need Kaprizov back on the ice if they are going to make any waves in the postseason. With Russo’s report, that Kirill won’t travel with the team on their upcoming road trip, his earliest return would be April 3 at home vs the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Wild’s final regular season game will be played on April 13. That means, best case scenario, the Russian superstar is back in uniform with 10 days and 6 games remaining. That would be plenty of time to get him back into his groove before the playoffs.

But clearly, there’s no guarantee that will be the case and 10 days isn’t a lot of cushion for any sort of delay.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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