As alluded to on Thursday in recent reports, the Minnesota Wild have officially activated forward Mats Zuccarello off of injured reserve, per a team announcement. Having been injured since December 16, Zuccarello will likely be in the lineup Saturday night as the Wild take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Before the announcement, Zuccarello was one of five players currently on the injured reserve for Minnesota, with top players such as Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon sidelined as well. Even beyond the regular injured reserve, defenseman Jonas Brodin currently finds himself on long-term injured reserve, severely limiting the Wild’s depth over the last couple of weeks.
Specifically with Zuccarello sidelined with an upper-body injury, Minnesota has produced a 4-5-0 record in his absence, with four of those losses coming in their last four games. As the defense and goaltending have held up their end of things, the Wild’s offense has certainly struggled over this stretch, averaging less than three goals a game without Zuccarello.
Even though Zuccarello is largely seen as a complementary piece next to Kaprizov, he may be tasked with being the focal point of the offense moving forward over the next few games. Impressively, he still sits second on the team in scoring with six goals and 28 points in 28 games, continuing to maintain an elite ability to pass the puck in his age-36 season.
Minnesota still has a difficult path ahead toward a healthy roster, but the addition of Zuccarello back into the lineup should help the team be more competitive.
Luckily for the team, the wild-card race in the Western Conference is still relatively tight, as the Wild currently sit five points back of the Seattle Kraken for the final spot, with two games in hand.
More must-reads: