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Latest MN Wild Injuries Threaten Stanley Cup Dreams
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- Latest MN Wild Injuries Threaten Stanley Cup Dreams
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Wild begin their second round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Sunday night, in a series between arguably the best two teams remaining in the entire NHL Playoff field (especially in the Western Conference).
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Of course, having a healthy lineup would certainly help the Wild hold their own against an Avs team that’s been sitting on top of the NHL regular season standings since puck dropped on game one of 82.
Unfortunately, while Minnesota now has Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin back in the lineup, after both players missed multiple games in the middle of round one vs Dallas , they continue to lose other key pieces of their Stanley Cup puzzle.
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Latest Minnesota Wild injuries bring new concerns
In Game 5 against the Stars, veteran defenseman Jonas Brodin went down with a lower leg injury that we are yet to get any good news on . Saturday, head coach John Hynes told reporters that the 32-year-old will NOT travel to Denver, meaning he’ll likely miss the first two games of this series.
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To pour salt into the MN Wild’s open wounds, top center Joel Eriksson Ek — who left Game 6 in Dallas with a lower-body injury — may not be traveling West with his teammates either, according to Michael Russo (The Athletic) .
Brodin will not travel to Denver. Eriksson Ek is questionable and Hynes is waiting to see if he can travel
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 2, 2026
Ekker is officially be listed as “Questionable”. But just thinking logically — if Wild doctors aren’t even sure if it’s a good idea to fly him out at all, how optimistic can we really be over his status to play in Game 1?
If we are being honest with ourselves, anything more optimistic than “Doubtful” might be too generous. Should Eriksson Ek be ruled out, per Russo , the MN Wild will go with one of two youngsters — either Danila Yurov or Hunter Haight
Who will play if Joel Eriksson Ek can’t?
Yurov seems like the favorite to get another chance, just based on who were forced to stay back and endure post-practice skating (conditioning) sessions Saturday — workouts that active roster players do not normally partake in.
If Eriksson Ek can’t play, Hynes said they were still determining whether Danila Yurov or Haight would play in his place and how the rest of the lineup would shake out. Nick Foligno can play center, so they could also put winger Bobby Brink in the lineup. Yurov wasn’t bagged, but he did stay on the ice extra to work alone with assistant coach Dwyer.
Ready for Avs: MN Wild Players Shrug Off Historic Playoff Win
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Yurov rode the struggle bus earlier this postseason, posting zero points in the first four games of their round one victory over the Stars. He was a -1 (+/-) in just over 11 minutes of ice time per game, before being benched for the final two games.
We didn’t get further information on Brodin’s 2026 playoff future, today. However, I’m definitely worried about his status going forward. And not just for the rest of this series, but for the remainder of whatever postseason run the Minnesota Wild have in-store.
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