Kirill Kaprizov was not on the ice for practice today due to a maintenance day. The Wild are expected to call up an extra player for Sweden just in case.
Kirill Kaprizov was not on the ice for practice today due to a maintenance day. The Wild are expected to call up an extra player for Sweden just in case.
After yesterday's 8-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, Wild head coach Dean Evason stated "tomorrow won't be any fun." Which was referring to the Wild's practice they had today.
It was a hard practice with a lot of drills of entering the zone and shooting the puck on net rather than wide as the Wild missed way too many shots yesterday.
Regardless, the Wild's assistant captain Kirill Kaprizov was not on the ice for practice. Evason did say that it was just a maintenance day for Kaprizov and that he has "a bump on his body" that will get the chance to heal a bit before the Wild head to Sweden for the NHL Global Series.
Even with Nic Petan already called up, the Wild are expected to recall someone from the AHL. In terms of who it could be is still be evaluated by the team. Petan skated with Mats Zuccarello and Marco Rossi at practice today which would normally be Kaprizov's spot.
Kaprizov has been turning the puck over a lot this season and really just doesn't look like himself that the Wild saw before the playoffs last year. You could argue he doesn't look the same since his injury before the playoffs in Winnipeg. So this could be related.
Nonetheless, the Wild are expected to call up a forward from Iowa in case Kaprizov isn't available to play in Sweden.