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What if Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov has to miss an extended period of time?

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·3 min read
5

That deafening silence is State of Hockey holding its collective breath.

Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov went down with a lower-body injury late in Wednesday’s win over the Winnipeg Jets. That made it pretty hard for the Wild to celebrate the fact that they moved into a tie with the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.

All that mattered in the immediate aftermath was Kaprizov’s availability moving forward.

“I don’t know yet,” coach Dean Evason told reporters after the game. “He was able to skate off, so I guess if there’s a positive, that would be it.”

The sequence that led to Kaprizov leaving the ice was awkward, to say the least. He had control of the the puck in the offensive zone, turned his body to win a battle, and appeared to get tackled by Jets defenseman Logan Stanley.

The force from the collision caused Kaprizov to do the splits, and he was visibly in pain as he staggered to his skates. After trying to continue his shift, he glided gingerly to the bench. He limped down the tunnel to the locker room after the next whistle.

There was no update provided during Thursday’s scheduled off day, so remains unclear whether Kaprizov will travel with the Wild on the upcoming road trip through San Jose, Arizona and St. Louis. It begins on Saturday with a 9:30 p.m. puck drop against the Sharks.

It will be interesting to see how Evason addresses the situation following Friday’s practice at TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul.

It raises the question: What if Kaprizov has to miss an extended period of time?

It certainly wouldn’t be good for the Wild considering they have struggled to score goals this season. Ahead of Thursday’s slate of games, the Wild ranked No. 26 in the league with 2.75 goals per game. More concerning, they were tied for dead last with the tanking Chicago Blackhawks with 106 goals when 5-on-5.

As bleak as those numbers look — and they ain’t pretty — they would be even worse without Kaprizov in the lineup. He’s the straw that stirs the drink for the Wild on a nightly basis. There’s no question about that.

Though opposing teams make it their mission to frustrate Kaprizov at every turn, his production hasn’t slipped. He leads the Wild with 74 points (39 goals and 35 assists) this season and has scored a whopping 21.8 percent of the team’s goals.

The good news for the Wild is they have been defending incredibly well over the past month and have gotten outstanding goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson. That can help them keep their head above water if Kaprizov is out for the foreseeable future.

As long as he’s ready for the playoffs, the Wild should be in good shape. If he’s not, well, then it could be an early exit.

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