Kirill Kaprizov will be out longer than anticipated for the Minnesota Wild because of a lower-body injury, general manager Bill Guerin said Friday.
The forward had surgery in late January because of a lower-body injury and was expected to be out a minimum of four weeks.
“I think he’s going to be out longer than we originally expected. How much, I cannot answer,” Guerin told KFAN radio in Minneapolis. “I just don’t know, we’ll see how he progresses. That’s really where we’re at.
“He’s just recovering right now, and we’ll see how it turns out, but he’s going to be a little longer than we expected. And what that does with our (salary) cap situation? I don’t know because when he’s healthy, we’ll put him back in. If he’s not, then we won’t.”
Kaprizov is in the fourth of a five-year, $45 million contract ($9 million average annual value) he signed with the Wild on Sept. 21, 2021. He missed 12 games from Dec. 27 to Jan. 20 and returned to play three games before he was forced to sit out again. The 27-year-old has not played since a 4-2 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 26.
He still leads Minnesota with 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) in 37 games this season. The Wild (34-19-4) won 4-3 at the Detroit Red Wings in overtime on Saturday.
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