The Minnesota Wild left Saturday’s practice with more relief than alarm.
After a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday pushed Minnesota to 5-2-1, the attention immediately shifted to Kirill Kaprizov when Blues goalie Joel Hofer drove him into the end boards late in the game with the Wild already ahead 5-2. John Hynes said afterward that Kaprizov was okay, and Jesper Wallstedt called it “a dirty play.”
So when the Wild hit the ice at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday morning - a rare session open to season ticket holders - the sight of Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes staying off the ice naturally got everybody’s attention.
According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, neither player skated, while Nick Foligno, who is on injured reserve, left after the team photo.
Don’t see Kaprizov or Hughes on ice for #mnwild. Nick Foligno left after team photo.
- Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) October 17, 2026
The good news came quickly afterward. Hynes said Kaprizov was sick but is expected to play Sunday, and Hughes was simply getting a rest day and should be fine.
He also said Spurgeon and Foligno aren’t ready yet for the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and that Sturm will go through a protocol test Monday to see if he can return. Nick Foligno skated on his own, and Olli Maatta did not practice.
Hynes said Kaprizov was sick, but he’s expected to play Sunday. Hughes was a rest day, he should be good to go.
Spurgeon and Foligno not ready yet for tomorrow. Sturm has protocol test Monday to see if he can get back to action.
Nick Foligno skated on own Maatta not practicing.
- Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) October 17, 2026
For Minnesota, that was about as close to a best-case update as it could get. Kaprizov has been carrying the offense all season, leading the NHL with nine goals and sitting fifth in the league with 14 points. Hughes has been just as indispensable, piling up 12 points - two goals and 10 assists - and registering at least one point in all eight games while logging nearly 27 minutes per night.
With Brock Faber already out along with several other key injuries, the Wild can’t afford to lose either of those two for long. That’s what made Saturday’s scare feel so significant.
There was also some encouraging movement elsewhere on the roster. Marcus Foligno, who has been on injured reserve, skated on a top line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy, taking Kaprizov’s spot. Jared Spurgeon returned as well, lining up with Jonas Brodin on the top pair.
Just don’t pencil them in for Sunday yet. Hynes said Spurgeon and Marcus Foligno won’t be available against Columbus. Nico Sturm’s situation remains tied to Monday’s test, while Nick Foligno worked on his own.
Without Hughes, the defense gets thin fast, and practice showed that clearly. The third pair featured Matt Kiersted and David Spacek, while the injured Maatta was again absent. The Wild’s other pairings had Jonas Brodin with Jared Spurgeon, and Hunt with Bogosian.
Minnesota hosts the Blue Jackets on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Grand Casino Arena. If Hynes’ update holds, Kaprizov and Hughes should both be back in the lineup for a team that has already been leaning hard on its stars through the first eight games.
In Other News...
Wild Kept Finding Offense In A Spot That Should Worry Rivals
The Wild are still piecing things together through a long injury list, but on Oct. 15 they found enough offense to pull out a 5-4 win over the Blues in St. Louis. Minnesota spotted the home side an early deficit, then leaned on a sharper attack and contributions from across the lineup to steady the night and keep the game from slipping away.
Matt Boldy was at the center of it, driving the comeback with a hat trick and four points as Minnesota kept finding answers in a spot that can swing a game quickly. Even without several regulars available, the Wild showed they can lean on skilled finishers and enough depth to make opponents pay if they lose track of the puck in the wrong area. [Read more 🡒]
Quinn Hughes Is Making Minnesota's Biggest Worry Harder To Ignore
Even with injuries thinning out the blue line, Quinn Hughes has been one of the reasons Minnesota has been able to keep its strong start rolling. The defenseman has taken on heavy ice time and added more offense than the Wild have expected, giving the team a stabilizing presence while several other key defenders have been sidelined. His impact shows up quickly in the way Minnesota plays when he is on the ice, especially alongside Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.
What makes Hughes such a compelling subplot for the Wild is that his future remains unsettled even as his role keeps growing. He has not moved quickly toward a long-term extension, leaving Minnesota with a major contributor now and a looming question later. For a team trying to ride early momentum, that mix of immediate value and long-term uncertainty is becoming harder to overlook. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Suddenly Face A Quinn Hughes Decision They Feared
Quinn Hughes was supposed to be the kind of swing the Wild made to close the gap in their division, the sort of aggressive move that can reshape a roster if everything goes right. Instead, according to The Athletics Harman Dayal, Minnesota may already be staring at the uncomfortable part of that transaction, with Hughes still without a contract extension as the deadline picture starts to sharpen. The Wild paid a heavy price to get him, and the whole point was to make him part of the long-term core, not another expensive stopgap.
Now the question is whether that vision holds if the sides cannot get aligned soon enough. If Minnesota has to treat Hughes like a rental, the market would likely bring back a first-round pick and a top prospect, a decent haul in a vacuum but a far cry from the package the Wild originally sent out. Add in the clubs offseason moves and the pressure to keep pace in a tough division, and this has the feel of a decision the front office would rather not be forced into so quickly. [Read more 🡒]