Still, the Wild simply do not have a player who is capable of replicating Kaprizov’s dynamic play with the puck, which has taken him to the top of the team’s scoring charts despite missing a month of the season already with a lower-body injury scheduled to be surgically repaired this week.

What they're saying: Kaprizov will be out at least four weeks, GM Bill Guerin told reporters — and it could be closer to six, per The Athletic. The silver lining is that Kaprizov can recover during the Wild's two-week break mid-February during the NHL's in-season international tournament.