Minnesota Wilde has been playing in total for more than two months without his star striker – Kirill Caprizov. The Russian missed a significant part of the season due to the injury, and his return, which was supposed to take place in February, is constantly delayed.

When will he be able to go on the ice again?

The reason for the absence of Kaprizov and the recovery time

Kaprizov for the first time was out of order on December 27 and missed 12 matches due to injury to the lower body. Returning to the composition of January 20, he held three meetings and was noted by two productive programs. However, it soon became clear that damage requires surgical intervention. On January 31, the attacker was performed, and on February 2, Minnesota included him in the long -term list of injured.

Initially, the forecasts were not so depressing: it was planned that the striker would miss about four weeks. However, the recovery process was more complicated. On February 22, the general manager of Wilde Bill Gerin admitted that the deadlines are delayed, but expressed the belief that whims would return to the end of the regular championship.

– We assume that he will miss more games than was originally expected. However, I can’t say exactly how long it will last. It is in the process of recovery, and we will see how the case will go. He spent the season at a level worthy of Hart Trophy. I would also be upset in such a situation, – quotes the words of Gerin The Hockey News.

Kirill Kaprizov / Photo: © Ellen Schmidt / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

How does Minnesota play without its leader?

The lack of Caprizov seriously affected Minnesota. The team fights for a place in the playoffs, but the instability in the results complicates the task. Without their main sniper, Wilde loses creativity in the attack and cannot count on the same performance that was demonstrated with him in the composition.

Now Minnesota is in sixth place in the Western Conference and has 78 points after 65 matches. Wilde has an advantage of nine points over St. Louis in the Central Division. But even this gap can evaporate for the remaining 17 matches of the regular season. Without Kaprizov, Minnesota lost 13 out of 28 matches this season, and with it – 15 out of 37 (46% versus 40%).

Even having missed 28 matches, the whims remains the third scorer of the team. His asset has 52 (23+29) points in 37 games. Only Marco Rossi (53) and Matthew Boldy (55), who played 65 matches. This indicates how great the Russian Russian has on the game of the team.

When will whim will return to the ice?

The question remains open. Minnesota did not make serious acquisitions before Dedlin in anticipation of Kaprizov’s return.

“If we want Cyril to play in a regular season, we could not take other steps,” Bill Gerin quotes The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Kirill Kaprizov and Minnesota hockey players / Photo: © Ellen Schmidt / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Despite the protracted recovery, the Wilde leadership hopes that Kaprizov will be able to help the team in the near future. There is no official return schedule, but the expectations are such that it will appear on the ice until the end of the regular championship and will be able to help Minnesota in the struggle for access to the playoffs.

For Wilde, this is critically important: Kaprizov spent the Hart Trophy level season, and his return may become the factor that will allow the team to complete the regular season on the major note and seriously count on a successful performance in the playoffs.