Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov will undergo surgery for a lower-body injury sustained in December and is expected to be out week-to-week, general manager Bill Guerin told reporters Tuesday.

It has been two months since we did a Wild mailbag and several months since we did an ‘Ask Russo and Smith’ mailbag, but with Joe back on the clock, there’s no better time to answer many of your questions.

This affiliate content is not influenced by our advertising relationships, but AP and Data Skrive might earn commissions from our partners’ links in this content.

And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.

On their seventh try, they finally eluded Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek 5 minutes, 43 seconds into the first period when Spurgeon sent the puck past Mrazek’s blocker after a 4-on-2 rush for the Wild. Marco Rossi factored into the play to pick up an assist on the Wild’s past four goals, tying a team record for the second time this season.

Your look at trends in fantasy hockey with goalie, power-play and droppable notes, with a focus on shots generated by top lines.

The press conference held by Philadelphia Flyers GM Daniel Briere last week sent some shockwaves through the Flyers’ fan base and media. Briere did not

Dylan Loucks is the Site Admin and Reporter for the Minnesota Wild team site with The Hockey News. A resident of St. Paul, MN, Loucks has spent the last four years covering hockey and in his spare time likes to work on his expected goals model and other models he is creating.

ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild held a practice on Wednesday and are set to host the Utah Hockey Club for a game on Thursday night. The Wild have some positive news surrounding the team. Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were full participants during practice and seem likely to return to the lineup on Thursday.

Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) will return to the lineup for Thursday's clash against the Utah Hockey Club. Minnesota gets its star winger back after playing 12 games without him.

Kirill Kaprizov will return to the lineup for the Minnesota Wild against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). The forward has missed the past 12 games because of a lower-body injury that was considered day to day.