Report: Kaprizov, Spurgeon to return from injuries Thursday

The Minnesota Wild will have two pivotal players in the lineup Thursday for the first time since late December.

Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon will play against the Utah Hockey Club, sources told The Athletic's Michael Russo.

Kaprizov missed 12 contests with what the Wild called a lower-body injury. He was the Hart Trophy front-runner when he got hurt, and still leads Minnesota in goals by five, assists by four, and points by nine.

The Russian forward has 23 tallies and 27 helpers while ranking second in the NHL among forwards with an average ice time of 22:37 in 34 games this season.

Spurgeon sat out nine contests after Nashville Predators forward Zachary L'Heureux slew-footed the defenseman during a 5-3 Preds win on Dec. 31. L'Heureux was suspended for three games over the incident. Spurgeon has chipped in four goals and nine assists while playing 20:43 per night across 32 games in 2024-25.

The Wild are still without top-four blue-liner Jonas Brodin, who's missed the last six contests due to an injury of his own.

Minnesota has performed surprisingly well without these key players: The Wild come into Thursday sitting second in the Central Division at 28-15-4.