The Wild rallied for an impressive 5-4 overtime victory on Saturday afternoon in Buffalo, but coach John Hynes and his team likely were thrilled the week came to an end. They completed an 0-2-1 homestand on Thursday by giving up 11 goals in back-to-back losses to New Jersey and Winnipeg, and that wasn’t the worst news.
Already missing center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Zach Bogosian because of lower-body injuries, it was revealed Thursday that oft-injured defenseman Jonas Brodin would be out week to week because of a lower-body issue.
Despite optimism that Eriksson Ek might return on this three-game trip, the Wild placed him on injured reserve on Friday and surprised everyone by doing the same with winger Matt Boldy (lower body). That left Marcus Johansson as the only healthy player from what has been one of the Wild’s best lines this season. Only one problem: Johansson was out of the lineup Saturday because of a lower-body injury and also hadn’t traveled with the Wild.
One of my posts on X about the injury situation — it was after Brodin went down and before Boldy and Johansson were sidelined — was met with a ray-of-sunshine response from a Wild fan. That was the fact the Wild are nine games away from having a 21-day break for the Olympic hockey tournament.
So get through these next nine and then everyone will have time to rest up before resuming play on Feb. 26 in Colorado.
This would be fantastic, if it were true.
But Boldy has been named to the United States roster for the men’s tournament in Milan, Italy, and Eriksson Ek and Brodin are on the roster for Team Sweden.
Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that Brodin’s injury could potentially cost him a chance to play in the Games, but Boldy and Eriksson Ek should be good in time for the tournament, which is set to begin on Feb. 11.
I know it has been a priority of NHL players to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014, despite the fact it shuts down the season. And seeing the best-on-best tournament can lead to fantastic games.
That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for guys like Boldy, Eriksson Ek and Brodin to try to play through an injury, or risk aggravating one. The majority of hockey players focus 100 percent of their comments on team, and do anything in their power not to sound selfish.
That seems potentially selfish given the Olympic tournament has nothing to do with the goals each team sets in training camp. Wild general manager Bill Guerin played in three Olympic Games and will be the GM of the United States squad. But even he has to have reservations about Boldy, Eriksson Ek and Brodin trying to return just in time to participate in a playoff-type intensity tournament.
In addition to Boldy, Eriksson Ek and Brodin, the Wild are set to send the following players to the Olympics: Defensemen Brock Faber (U.S.) and Quinn Hughes (U.S.) and David Spacek (Czechia); center Nico Sturm (Germany); and goaltenders Filip Gustavsson (Sweden) and Jesper Wallstedt (Sweden). Samuel Hlavaj, a goaltender for the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Des Moines, is a member of Slovakia’s roster.
There’s a risk with healthy players going — if Hughes is injured, the Wild won’t be going anywhere in the playoffs — but it’s another matter when it comes to guys currently sitting out.