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  • Kaprizov, Spurgeon Back For Wild At Perfect Time

    Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    That's Wild

    Any time would be a good time for the Minnesota Wild to get star Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon back from their absences due to injury, but as the duo makes their return to the ice for Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club, the timing is perfect.

    While the Wild have recently slid ever so slightly in the standings, dropping games to the Oilers and Predators as of late, they have been able to stay above water. There was no worry about them dropping entirely out of the playoff picture, but with Kaprizov back in the fold, could they possibly battle with the Winnipeg Jets for the Central top seed?

    Seven points back and two games in-hand, the Wild could be poised to make a dramatic jump if they go on a little streak here. Contesting Winnipeg while swiping away teams like the Avalanche and the Stars at the same time would feel so good and as they make this push past the March 7 trade deadline and possibly get even stronger in the late season -- Watch out.

    • More on the return of Kaprizov and Spurgeon and what it means for the team. [Reuters]
    • He might have been reassigned to the Iowa Wild as Spurgeon makes his return to the roster, but David Jiricek has quickly proven that he can play in the NHL. [Hockey Wilderness]

    Off the trail...

    • The race for the Wild Card in the Eastern Conference is a complete mess. Projecting the playoff hopes for all teams, but specifically the tangle of teams out over there. [ESPN]
    • Five potential landing spots for J.T. Miller. [Sportsnet]
    • Jacob Markstrom is going to unfortunately miss some time for the Devils after an injury Wednesday. [TheScore]
    By Thomas Williams  

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    MNCountryLife

    Nice to get those 2 back.  I was a little surprised to see Jiricek get sent back down to IA.  He seemed to be making a difference and improving each game.  I thought they might sit Merrill instead. 

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    M_Nels
    14 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

    Nice to get those 2 back.  I was a little surprised to see Jiricek get sent back down to IA.  He seemed to be making a difference and improving each game.  I thought they might sit Merrill instead. 

    From what Russo said yesterday on BlueSky it would've taken Shore to be sent down plus Dermott on waivers (wouldn't have hurt anyones feelings I'm sure) or Brodin on LTIR+Shore down.

    I thought Shore going down would've been enough but then I saw the Skeet saying it required a little more.

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    mnfaninnc
    16 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

    Brodin on LTIR+Shore down.

    This doesn't make sense to me. Brodin's LTIR hit should make it all ok. I'd be ok with Shore down and someone else up. Shore, to me, has had trouble keeping up with the 4th line. I'm not sure why they don't just stick Johansson on LTIR?

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    M_Nels
    6 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    This doesn't make sense to me. Brodin's LTIR hit should make it all ok. I'd be ok with Shore down and someone else up. Shore, to me, has had trouble keeping up with the 4th line. I'm not sure why they don't just stick Johansson on LTIR?

    You are correct, I mis-remembered the exact wording but I just looked it up again.

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    mnfaninnc

    For those interested, Metallurg's final regular season game is March 20th, and the regular season ends in the K the following day. In contrast, the Wild have their final regular season game April 15th. So, we're looking at about a 3 week difference in seasons here. 

    Metallurg sits in 4th place in their division right now, 2 points out of 2nd. As defending champions, I'd expect them to get to at least round 3 of the playoffs. They have been clicking recently and making up ground. If that happens, I think Yurov would be available to sign somewhere around the beginning of May, but probably too late to help us this season. 

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    Up North Guy
    2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

    This doesn't make sense to me. Brodin's LTIR hit should make it all ok. I'd be ok with Shore down and someone else up. Shore, to me, has had trouble keeping up with the 4th line. I'm not sure why they don't just stick Johansson on LTIR?

    According to Russo on the Paul Allen show this morning they could have used the LTIR route but what they really need to do is accumulate cap space. They can't do that with a LTIR contract in place. He alluded that the reason was so they have some cap space for the trade deadline and also some breathing room.

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    mnfaninnc
    21 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    They finally have players back, but teams won't sit around at the deadline.  They need any and all caps space they can get at this point 

    Seems to me they're going to have to go out and buy some, it's the only way. This could get pretty complex and I'm am not confident in Shooter's ability to pull off complex trades like these. I sure hope the guys he promoted can do it. 

    My initial thought was that CBJ would be a seller and may need to sell cap space just to stay compliant above the floor. Since getting Jiricek, Shooter has a trade relationship with CBJ. I would think that this could work towards our advantage and the 2 teams could help each other.

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    Citizen Strife

    I'm honestly thinking a small depth trade is going to happen rather than a big swing.  I would have said try to trade Hartman if possible. I don't know if anyone would take that contract length by choice though.  But they might not have many choices to get space if they are relying on LTIR so much.

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