Marat Khusnutdinov suffers shoulder injury

One of these days, the Minnesota Wild are bound to get some good news. But it is not this day.

In the wake of the Wild’s pandemic problems, injuries to stars Matt Dumba and Jared Spurgeon and the COVID-19 complications being suffered by their 2020 first-round selection Marco Rossi, it is being speculated that the Wild’s second-round pick, Marat Khusnutdinov, may miss four months due to a shoulder injury suffered during Russia’s opening game against Finland during the Beijer Hockey Games of the Euro Hockey Tour on Thursday.

Khusnutdinov had been named as the Russian team’s number one center earlier this week, and many were looking forward to a strong tournament for the Wild prospect. But while the nature of the injury has yet to be confirmed (the only source being the Twitter account @RUSProspects — and retweeted by Wild beat writer Michael Russo of The Athletic), it appears that Khusnutdinov’s season is over prematurely.

Khusnutdinov scored five points (two goals, three assists) at the World Juniors in December, and was looking to make a big impact on Team Russia’s top line.

Khusnutdinov’s injury is yet another setback for the Wild’s prospect pool. Hopefully the initial reports will be overstated and Khustnutdinov won’t miss the rest of his season and set back his development. But considering how he looked heading down the tunnel, you have to assume the worst.

More as it develops.