The Minnesota Wild announced Tuesday that goalie Filip Gustavsson and forward Kirill Kaprizov are both week-to-week with respective injuries. Gustavsson was placed on Injured Reserve on Monday with a lower-body injury while Kaprizov deals with a lower-body injury, per Wild Public Relations.
Gustavsson started 22 games before the injury, most recently on Dec. 30 against the Winnipeg Jets. He stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced but did not play in the third period. The Wild lost 4-2.
Gustavsson's numbers have dipped a bit from his breakout 2022-23 campaign, but he is still Minnesota's best option between the pipes and played much better in December. He won six of his nine starts in December, recording a 2.26 GAA with a .920 save percentage and posted his second shutout of the season.
Overall Gustavsson has 10 wins with a 2.95 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.
Wild lose their best player
On the other hand, the loss of Kirill Kaprizov is a tough one to swallow for the Wild. The forward is coming off back-to-back 40-goal seasons and was heating up as the calendar flipped to 2024.
Kaprizov recorded 10 points (five goals, five assists) across his last six games before exiting that same Dec. 30 game early. He has 34 total points this season with 13 goals and 21 assists.
Kaprizov made his debut with the Wild during the 2020-21 season and has since led Minnesota in goals and points in all three of his NHL seasons. The 26-year-old is more than a point-per-game player with 268 points in 237 NHL games.
These are two huge blows to the Wild as they try to start 2024 on a high note after dropping their final two games of 2023. The first three months of the 2023-24 NHL season were a whirlwind for the Wild and this only adds to the chaos for Minnesota.
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