More Good News Minnesota Wild Injury Updates…?

The Minnesota Wild do not have a lot of nights off between now and the end of the 2024-25 NHL regular season. That’s a good and bad thing for where this team currently sits, not just in the standings but in terms of their health too.

Entering tonight’s game vs the Vegas Golden Knights — which is the second half of a back-to-back; the Wild lost 3-0 to the Stars on Sunday night — Minnesota had just 11 games remaining on their schedule. The Western Conference playoff picture seems to get cloudier every day that ticks by.

Minnesota Wild waiting semi-patiently for the NHL Playoffs

At 85 points, the MN Wild — currently the No. 1 wild card in the West — sit just four points up on the St. Louis Blues (81 points), who have been surging up the standings the past two weeks, now hold the second and final West wild card spot, at 81 points. Right behind them, at 78 and 77 points respectively, are the Canucks and Flames.

In other words, when it comes to the Wild’s chances of making the NHL Playoffs, the games cannot go by quickly enough. Why, because they need to get their best players back from injury. Ironically though, injuries are the same reason why Wild fans would like to push back the start of the playoffs as long as possible.

If the Minnesota Wild enter the 2025 NHL Playoffs without Kirill Kaprizov and/or Joel Eriksson Ek — both of whom have been out for weeks dealing with lower body injuries — then this team doesn’t stand a chance come playoffs anyway.

Related: MN Wild Top Defenseman Back Out with Injury

Hopefully, the Wild can find a way to pull out a win on Monday, in order to right their playoff ship and hold off their oncoming Wild Card competitors. But no matter what happens during tonight’s contest, it was an overall good day in St. Paul.

Good news Wild injury updates: Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin

Not only did Jonas Brodin return to the lineup tonight, after missing his second game back on the active roster, coming off his own extended injury absence, but MN Wild head coach John Hynes also told gathered media members at Xcel Energy Center that both Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are expected to start skating again this week.

Jonas Brodin playing tonight #mnwild.

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 25, 2025

Hynes indicates Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek will begin skating in the next few days

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 25, 2025

For those who have been paying attention, the Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek news shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. Over the weekend, Michael Russo (The Athletic) reported on KFAN Radio that both top-line forwards were expected to being skating this week. Nonetheless, it’s good to see the head coach confirm that report.

Wild desperately need Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek back

Before his injury, Kirill Kaprizov was playing the best hockey of his impressive young NHL career. In only 37 games, Kirill the Thrill potted 23 goals and assisted on 29 more. In fact, the nearly 28-year-old winger was the betting favorite to win the Hart Trophy, which would have made him the first-ever Wild player to win NHL MVP.

Through 42 games this season, Joel Eriksson Ek has amassed totaled 9 goals and 14 assists (25 points), with 19:38 TOI. This, off of the two most productive seasons of his the 28-year-old’s NHL career, where he scored 64 points last season and 61 points in 2022-23.

Related: Wild Division Rival Weirdly Obsessed with Minnesota at NHL Trade Deadline

Whether he is potting goals or not, Ek is the heart and soul of the Wild. He isn’t Kirill Kaprizov, but outside of the Russian superstar, there may not be another player in the Minnesota Wild organization that means more to winning games right now.

Jonas Brodin — who has played over 80 games just once in his NHL career (2018-19) — enters tonight’s re-started return with 18 total points on the season, which tracks with past years, even when the Swede was young and at his physical best.