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.

Kaprizov had a couple scoring chances for the Wild (28-16-4), who were delighted to get their superstar back after he missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury. Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for Utah (21-19-7) in what was just their second shutout win of the season.

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 have been without two of the most important pieces in their lineup for multiple weeks, but that could soon be on the verge of changing. Forward Kirill Kaprizov, who has missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury,

The Wild could be getting both their best player and their captain back from injuries on Thursday night. Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday.

As per Michael Russo, the Minnesota Wild are set to activate Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon from the injured reserve and long-term injured reserve.

The Minnesota Wild are trying to stay afloat near the top of the West, a mission that will be easier if Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon return Thursday, as expected.