The injury list is growing ahead of Thursday’s showdown with the Avs, but the wins keep coming

Last season’s slew of injuries were partly to blame for the Minnesota Wild missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. This year, injuries are starting to pile up again, but the team has found a way to keep winning.

Click the video box on this page to watch morning skate interviews with head coach John Hynes and Wild players Marcus Foligno and David Jirick, who will make their Wild debuts Thursday night against Colorado

With star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon still on the bench, the Wild will be without defensemen Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin – as well as potential goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury – on Thursday night against Colorado.

The defenders were injured in Tuesday’s match against St. Louis. Faber – officially sidelined with an “upper body injury” – appeared to be injured after being hit in the first inning against the Blues. Brodin’s “lower body injury” occurred when he blocked a shot later in the game.

After all the defensive injuries, the Wild called up David Jirick from AHL Iowa. He will make his Wild debut on Thursday against the Avalanche.

The Wild traded for Jirick – the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft – in November.

Despite a series of injuries, the Wild found a way to keep winning. They have won four straight games and six of their last eight.

Apart from the known injuries – there is a huge question mark on the Wild’s goaltender depth chart.

Fleury was also among those absent from Thursday morning’s skate. Head coach John Hynes said Fleury is struggling with an illness and a game-time decision will be made on whether to support Filip Gustavsson in Thursday’s game against the Avalanche.

It is unclear who will support Gustavsson if Fleury is unable to go. Jesper Wallstedt is nursing an injury at AHL Iowa and recently signed Dylan Ferguson, who was injured last night while playing for Iowa.

Connor Beaupre, a longtime backup goaltender for the Wild (EBUG), was the second goalie during the morning skate. Beaupre, an Edina graduate, is the son of former Minnesota North Stars goaltender Don Beaupre.

The Wild were already playing without Kaprizov, Spurgeon and Jakub Lauko.

Hynes also said Kaprizov resumed on-ice training Thursday morning. He hasn’t skated with the team yet, but he has been skating on his own for the past few days. There is still no timetable for his return from a lower-body injury that forced him to miss the last six games.

Thursday’s game is the Wild’s 42nd game and mathematically marks the first game of the second half of the season.

The NHL season as a whole also reaches its halfway point on Thursday night.