Minnesota Wild Claim Forward on Waivers From Divisional Rival
The Minnesota Wild have officially claimed a forward on waivers from one of their division rivals.
Kirill Kaprizov's injury left a big hole in the Minnesota Wild's forward group. Not only is he the best scorer of the team, he's simply irreplaceable. His unique skillset makes him one of the toughest players to play against in the whole National Hockey League.
However, the Wild must move on without him, as the Russian forward got knee surgery that'll force him to miss a month of action.
At the end of January, Kaprizov tried to return to the lineup after missing a month due to an injury, but after three starts, decided to get surgery to fix the problem.
With the 4-Nations Face-Off set to go down in a week, and the two-week break in the NHL, the timing was perfect for him to get the procedure done.
Meanwhile, the Wild hasn't been able to get on the scoresheet for the past two games, losing 6-0 and 3-0 against the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins.
The organization has officially made a move to help in that area of the lineup: they acquired a veteran forward from the Nashville Predators on the waiver wire.
Indeed, in breaking news, the Wild claimed Vinny Hinostroza from the Predators.
Elliotte Friedman confirmed the news:
When they made it official, the Wild organization also revealed that the 24-year-old center Jakub Lauko also joined the Injury Reserve with a lower-body injury.
With Ryan Hartman serving his 10-game suspension for a dirty play on Tim Stutzle, the Wild's depth in the forward group took a big hit.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of opportunity Hinostroza will get with his new team, with the Wild looking to bounce back tomorrow night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| William Nylander | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alex Tuch | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Nic Dowd | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Connor McDavid | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Mikhail Sergachev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Auston Matthews | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shane Wright | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Macklin Celebrini | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Knies | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Andrew Mangiapane | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Aliaksei Protas | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Provorov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 55 | 38 | 14 | 3 | 79 | |
Capitals | 53 | 35 | 11 | 7 | 77 | |
Oilers | 53 | 33 | 16 | 4 | 70 | |
Stars | 53 | 34 | 18 | 1 | 69 | |
Hurricanes | 54 | 32 | 18 | 4 | 68 | |
Golden Knights | 54 | 31 | 17 | 6 | 68 | |
Panthers | 55 | 32 | 20 | 3 | 67 | |
Maple Leafs | 53 | 32 | 19 | 2 | 66 | |
Wild | 54 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 66 | |
Devils | 55 | 30 | 19 | 6 | 66 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||