The Wild had their best player back for the first time in a month, but they didn’t play like it. Kirill Kaprizov’s return was spoiled by a 4-0 shellacking from Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center that continued the Wild’s woes at home.

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes said he is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon will return to the lineup against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday.

Despite Thursday’s tough outcome, Wild players were thrilled to have their captain and star forward back in the lineup.

The Wild are bringing Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon back from injuries as the NHL season reaches the home stretch.

Rest during the holiday break wasn’t enough for Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov to return from a lower-body injury. Missing 12 games over five weeks didn’t sufficiently enable the injury to heal after a three-game return.

David’s come in and I think he’s really shown some of his very good attributes,” John Hynes said, with a nod to Jiricek’s imposing 6-foot-3 frame. “You can’t teach size.”

And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.

The Minnesota Wild are getting a perfect storm of returns for Thursday evening against the Utah Hockey Club as both star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon have been activated from IR.

The Minnesota Wild are trying to stay atop the West, a mission that will be easier if Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon return Thursday.

Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.

Coach John Hynes, per Michael Russo of The Athletic, told reporters he is " cautiously optimistic " that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain/defenceman Jared Spurgeon will return from injury Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club.

The Minnesota Wild are getting some firepower back into their lineup. Forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenceman Jared Spurgeon have been activated from injured reserve, the team announced Thursday. Spurgeon suffered an apparent leg injury when he was slew-footed by Nashville's Zachary L’Heureux on Dec.