The Minnesota Wild placed their top-scoring contributor on LTIR on Friday in Kirill Kaprizov because of an aggravated lower-body injury. Minnesota has been one of the NHL's biggest surprises in 2024-24, sitting in second place of the Central Division with 58 points.

The Minnesota Wild are getting a perfect storm of returns for Thursday evening against the Utah Hockey Club as both star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon have been activated from IR.

Wild star Kirill Kaprizov is back in action. After missing the past 12 games with a lower-body injury that popped up after the holiday break, Kaprizov was set to make his highly anticipated return on Thursday night against Utah at Xcel Energy Center.

Read the recent NHL news and rumors about Kirill Kaprizov for fantasy hockey. Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) will return to

The move was necessary to make the call-ups needed to have a full roster. It's retroactive, so Kaprizov can return whenever he's ready.

The Minnesota Wild are trying to stay atop the West, a mission that will be easier if Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon return Thursday.

"We're choosing to lose," coach John Hynes said after the Wild's woes at home continued with a 5-4 loss to the Flames.

The Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames met for the second time this season on Saturday evening, Jan. 25, and both teams were on the first game of back-to-backs.

Flames start Central swing with 5-4 win over Wild

Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames used their power play to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4.

While still holding the best road record in the NHL, Minnesota fell to below .500 at home (11-12-1) with the loss.