ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kirill Kaprizov will return to the lineup for the Minnesota Wild against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+).
The forward has missed the past 12 games because of a lower-body injury that was considered day to day. He last played Dec. 23, and on Jan. 2, Wild general manager Bill Guerin said that Kaprizov was dealing with a non-serious issue that the team wanted to be overly cautious with during its healing.
"It's always a good feeling to skate with the team and come back with the boys. It's a nice feeling," Kaprizov said Thursday. " … Just something happened. I just don't want to talk about this a lot. It's now good."
Kaprizov resumed skating Jan. 9. He had been placed on long-term injured reserve Jan. 16, retroactive to Dec. 23, and had been eligible to be activated since Jan. 18.
"Sometimes it happens," Kaprizov said. "… it's always boring. Staying at home all the time. No road trips. Just practicing here alone always. … Nothing crazy. Just watched games. Practicing. Stuff like this. That's it."
Kaprizov seemingly was an early-season Hart Trophy contender as NHL most valuable player and was on pace for a 100-point season for the second time in his NHL career. When he last played, he was tied for second in the NHL in goals (23) and tied for fourth in points (50) through 34 games. Kaprizov currently is tied for 11th in goals and tied for 21st in points.
"I hope so," he said, on if he could match his production from prior to the injury. "I don't know. I just try to don't think about this. Now I am just happy to come back. I don't play one month. I don't think about points or something like that. I just want to feel good in the game."
Despite his absence, he still leads Minnesota in goals, assists (27), points and plus/minus rating (plus-21), and his 11 power-play points are second behind Matt Boldy (12).
"He's such a workhorse in games and then practices and then after practices, it's just probably like any player," Wild coach John Hynes said of Kaprizov. "But with Kirill, getting to know him more, he's got to do what he needs to do to get himself ready and prepared. … Nothing major. Just make sure he's feeling good and prepared to play but also making sure that he's managing himself."
Minnesota has gone 7-5-0 without Kaprizov in the lineup and has managed to maintain a hold on second place in the Central Division, trailing the Winnipeg Jets by seven points.
"Guys played good," Kaprizov said. "[Had] a lot of wins in this time. I think it was good."