Wild Need A Thrilling Kirill

Kirill Kaprizov’s return from a 28-game injury absence last Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks gave the Wild superstar the perfect opportunity to get back into the swing of things. Kaprizov did exactly that with two goals, including the overtime winner, and an assist.

That was the positive. The downside was that his performance created an expectation that Kaprizov could pick up where he had left off before undergoing surgery in late January for a lower-body injury.

The Sharks are the NHL’s worst team — by a lot. They are the only team to give up more than 300 goals and have a staggering minus-102 goal differential. That meant Kaprizov and center Joel Eriksson Ek, who also returned from a lengthy injury absence against the Sharks and scored four goals, returned against a team that is akin to an American Hockey League franchise.

Reality quickly arrived for Kaprizov, who was initially sidelined right after Christmas, and had missed 40 of 43 games. In a loss at Calgary and overtime victories over Vancouver and Anaheim, Kaprizov’s only point came when he assisted on Mats Zuccarello’s overtime winner against the Canucks. This despite the fact he was often double-shifted, playing 22 minutes, 14 seconds against the Flames, 26:09 against the Canucks and 24 minutes against the Ducks.

This isn’t written as a criticism of Kaprizov. At his best, he is one of the five best players in the NHL — he is a three-time 40-goal scorer — and, yet, has the work ethic of a fourth-liner who plays every game as if it might be his last.

But as the Wild prepares to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening game of their first-round playoff series, it’s fair to wonder if Minnesota is going to get a near 100 percent Kaprizov or one who is at 65 or 70 percent?

The Wild will take whatever version of Kaprizov they can get, but it’s unlikely they can beat the Golden Knights unless Kaprizov can play like the guy who was in the running for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP before he exited the lineup in late December.

Kaprizov was tied for second in the NHL in goals (23) and tied for fourth in scoring (50 points) at the time. He was only seven points behind Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead. Kaprizov returned for three games in late January, contributed three assists, and then was shut down to have surgery.

Kaprizov is back in the lineup, but is he his usual self?
Watching Kaprizov since his return, his elite hockey mind has been on display and there have been glimpses of what makes him such a force. The issue appears to be conditioning and strength. Kaprizov isn’t winning as many board battles as usual and isn’t able to weave past opponents in the open ice as he so often does when healthy.

How quickly can these things return? Kaprizov’s past tells us it might take a while.

Kaprizov suffered a lower-body injury in early March 2023 when Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley ran into him from behind before falling on him. That injury sidelined Kaprizov for a month. He returned for the final two games of the regular season, scoring one goal, and then had a goal in the Wild’s opening playoff game against the Dallas Stars. Kaprizov did not get another point in the final five games of that series as the Wild were eliminated.

Kaprizov was productive from a points standpoint at the beginning of the 2023-24 season but didn’t look like himself. After Dean Evason was fired as the Wild’s coach in late November of that season, he talked about Kaprizov’s injury, although he did not provide specifics.

“I think his injury took a lot out of him,” Evason said. “He comes back and plays two games and then the playoffs, and he’s still in recovery mode. He’s had it looked at again this year. I don’t want to give secrets out, but that’s a hard injury to recover from. Has that affected his ability to have the pace? Yes, 100%. I do believe that. Kirill Kaprizov is trying his ass off. He just hasn’t found his skating pace that we are accustomed to.”

Because NHL teams often refuse to provide specific injury information, we don’t know exactly why Kaprizov had surgery, but the fact that he did is concerning. It’s also a possibility that this injury and the one he suffered in Winnipeg are related.

Those things remain a mystery. What we know is Kaprizov will be “trying his ass off,” again in these playoffs. But that doesn’t mean he will look like his usual self and that’s a major concern for a Wild team that desperately needs him to return to his superstar form.