ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov needs surgery on the lingering lower-body injury he recently returned from and will be sidelined for at least a month.
General manager Bill Guerin said Tuesday that Kaprizov is expected to be back with the team later this season.
The impact of his absence will be stemmed a bit by the two-week break on the NHL schedule next month for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
After missing 12 games, Kaprizov rejoined the Wild last week.
He played in three games but was not himself, and the mutual decision was made to shut him down and get him fixed.
The 27-year-old has 23 goals and 29 assists in 37 games and was playing at an MVP level before he got hurt.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Dave Campbell, The Associated Press