The Wild have been quite active when it comes to roster moves today. Michael Russo of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that defensemen Jonas Brodin and Jacob Middleton along with forwards Mats Zuccarello and Vinnie Hinostroza have all been activated off injured reserve. In corresponding moves, defenseman Zach Bogosian and Daemon Hunt were both moved to IR.
Brodin has missed a little more than a week with a lower-body injury. The 32-year-old has been his usual reliable self defensively for Minnesota this season, sitting second on the team in blocked shots with 66 while being one of their most-used penalty killers. Through 30 outings, he has three goals and six assists and is logging over 22 minutes per game of ice time for the sixth straight year. With them facing Edmonton’s strong attack this afternoon, his return to their shutdown pairing will certainly be a welcome one.
As for Middleton, he has missed the last couple of weeks with an upper-body issue. After averaging nearly a career-high 22 minutes per game last season, his role has been more limited this year. Through 28 games, the 29-year-old has six assists along with 43 blocks and 42 hits while playing 18:08 per night, slotting in fifth among Minnesota’s defenders. He also takes a regular turn on their penalty kill and should give that unit a boost as well.
Zuccarello has also missed the last couple of weeks with an upper-body injury but that’s not the only time he has been on the shelf this season. As a result, the 38-year-old has been limited to just 15 games so far. However, Zuccarello has been productive in those outings, picking up two goals and ten assists in a little under 18 minutes per night of playing time. He should slot back into a top-six role and deepen Minnesota’s offensive depth.
Hinostroza, meanwhile, had missed the last month with a lower-body issue. Before being sidelined, he had been a regular in the bottom six for the Wild although offensive production was hard to come by as he has just two goals and three assists in 22 games thus far. While Hinostroza has spent a lot of this season on the wing, he is a natural center and with their depth down the middle taking a hit with last week’s trade that saw Marco Rossi go to Vancouver, having another veteran who can play down the middle when needed will help.
As for those landing on IR, Bogosian has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. If the placement is backdated to December 14th (the day he was injured), he technically would be eligible to be activated as soon as Sunday. Having said that, they have an open roster spot after these moves so if Bogosian was that close to returning, they likely wouldn’t have placed him on IR in the first place. An 18-year NHL veteran, Bogosian has had a fairly limited role when he has been in the lineup this season, logging around 15 minutes per game of ice time while chipping in with two points in 17 outings.
Lastly, Hunt has played sparingly this season, suiting up in just a dozen games, suffering an undisclosed injury in the last of those on Tuesday. The 23-year-old is waiver-eligible and it’s clear that Minnesota doesn’t want to risk putting him on the wire so he has often served as their reserve defender. Hunt has two assists and 18 blocks in a dozen outings but is averaging just 12:26 per night. There is no word on how long he or Bogosian will be out.