ST. PAUL, Minn. — Watching Jake Middleton buzz around practice Monday morning, you never would have thought he had missed nearly a month with a broken finger.
There was Middleton, 29, stickhandling like he usually does. There was Middleton crunching teammate Matt Boldy into the boards. His mustache was in midseason form.
He’s been out since mid-December, and this was Middleton’s first official skate back with the team. But he could be back in the lineup as early as Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues.
“Midsy is imminent,” coach John Hynes said. “Whether that’s tomorrow or not, I’m not sure.”
The return of Middleton would be a big boost for a Wild team missing his usual partner, captain Jared Spurgeon, who is out 2-3 weeks due to a lower-body injury. Middleton was playing some of his best hockey before he got hurt on the first shift of a Dec. 12 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. He’s got five goals and eight assists, sitting at plus-22 in 29 games.
Jake Middleton moving around well in his first practice back #mnwild pic.twitter.com/BnEkaBjHee
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) January 6, 2025
“He’s a good-skating, big, strong defenseman who defends well,” Hynes said. “He’s bringing an offensive component to our team. He’s using his skating to join the rush and be a fourth attacker at the right times. He’s doing a nice job at the offensive blue line shooting and finding lanes — when to be involved in a play. He’s solid defensively in the hard areas of the ice, but his game continues to grow in the understanding of when and how to join the play off a breakout. Those things are all progressing for him and that’s why he was going really well before he got hurt.”
With Middleton back, it’ll take some pressure off the top pair of Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin, who played monster minutes in each of the last two games (both big wins over the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes). Faber logged at least 30-plus minutes, and Brodin was in the 27-28 minute range. The fact the Wild have managed despite the injuries to Spurgeon and Middleton speak to their depth, with Declan Chisholm stepping up on the left side.
Jakub Lauko also returned to practice, though he’s a little further away than Middleton from coming back. He’s been out since re-aggravating a groin injury in mid-December.
“I don’t know the exact timeline of him, other than he’s nearing pretty quick,” Hynes said.
Zach Bogosian did not practice on Monday due to body maintenance, Hynes said. Mats Zuccarello and Freddy Gaudreau were both dealing with illnesses, but Hynes expects they should be able to play against the Blues. With the Wild battling sickness, they did recall forwards Travis Boyd and Brendan Gaunce on an emergency basis, with defenseman Carson Lambos a regular recall with Spurgeon moved to injured reserve.
Kaprizov update
There continued to be no sign of superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who is set to miss his sixth straight game with a lower body injury.
Hynes said on Monday that Kaprizov has yet to skate since getting shut down around the Christmas break (Dec. 24-26). But Hynes maintained Kaprizov is still considered “day-to-day.”
That can be frustrating to Wild fans who heard the “day-to-day” label back around Christmas. If Kaprizov is still not skating, his return wouldn’t appear imminent. But as president and GM Bill Guerin said late last week, the idea is to be cautious and not rush him back. He wouldn’t confirm it’s a groin injury. But any injury like that typically requires patience and is prone to re-aggravation, just as Lauko found out in mid-December.
“The thing is that we don’t want him to come back and push through,” Guerin said Thursday of Kaprizov. “He could, but it could make something worse. We need him for the long haul. We don’t just need him for a couple games in January.”
With Kaprizov out, Marco Rossi has stepped up. The Wild’s No. 1 center was named the NHL’s first star of the week after racking up eight points in three wins over Nashville, Washington and Carolina. He had three goals and five assists, including four assists in Saturday’s 4-0 win.
World Junior buzz
It was hard for Hynes to not get excited after watching touted prospect Zeev Buium help lift Team USA to back-to-back gold medals at the World Junior Championship, including setting up the game-winner in OT over Finland. Buium, the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is in his sophomore season with Denver University.
“Oh yeah, man, wow — what a play he made on that last goal,” Hynes said. “What really impressed me with him is the amount of minutes he plays. You can see how much confidence the coach has in him, you can see by his style of game. It’s exciting.”
“He’s a stud,” Brock Faber said.
Every team that passed on Zeev Buium (except for the San Jose Sharks, Macklin Celebrini) made a major mistake in my opinion.
The #mnwild have a STUD.
What a pass to set up the Golden Goal 🥇pic.twitter.com/lmWyDOwPem
— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) January 6, 2025
Hynes has coached in the USA Hockey program and will be on the coaching staff for the upcoming Four Nations tournament. He’s really noticed how much growth the group has shown in many areas.
“Finland was the better team in the first half of the game,” Hynes said. “But there was no panic. (USA) got two quick ones. That ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ on a highly talented team that has high expectations, the ability to stick with it and find a way to win, is something the U.S. has the ability to do more and more — that’s how you win back-to-back.”
Praise for PK
There were some signs in previous weeks, but the much-maligned Wild penalty kill played a key role in consecutive victories over some of the Eastern Conference’s best teams on the last road trip.
Minnesota went 6-for-7 on the penalty kill combined against Carolina and Washington, which are 9th and 11th in the league on the power play respectively.
“It was the attention to detail and the urgency that you need to play with the penalty kill that was there,” Hynes said. “We did a good job against Washington and Nashville, the faceoff details, faceoff intensity, plan for a loss, plan for a win, forecheck, stick detail, standing at the line and not allowing easy entries. The pressure was good, stick detail, one guy goes, three guys go. Those components of the penalty kill and the competitive nature of it, it was at a level you need to be at to be successful.”
(Photo of Jake Middleton: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)
