The Minnesota Wild have yet another defenseman unavailable on Thursday night, adding to an ever growing list of injury problems.

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.

Dylan Loucks is the Site Admin and Reporter for the Minnesota Wild team site with The Hockey News. A resident of St. Paul, MN, Loucks has spent the last four years covering hockey and in his spare time likes to work on his expected goals model and other models he is creating.

Jonas Brodin will not be in the lineup Thursday when the Minnesota Wild take on the Central Division rival Colorado Avalanche as the veteran defenseman is sidelined with a lower-body injury, per Michael Russo of The Athletic.

The Minnesota Wild are trying to hang onto their spot near the top of the NHL standings, and on Friday they revealed the reinforcements are on the way.

The Minnesota Wild have added defensemen Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber to their list of key injured players and left them out of the lineup for their game against Colorado.

They will head into the back-to-back games shorthanded. Kirill Kaprizov will not play in either of them. He stayed back home in Minnesota with Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber. Brodin, 31, was injured, along with Faber, in the Wild's game against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. Neither of them joined the team out west.

Now that the Utah Hockey Club has figured out how to win games at home, it’s hitting the road again. Up first are the Minnesota Wild. The Wild are 1-3-0 in their last four games, but they’re still the second-placed team in the Central Division and the fourth-best team in the Western Conference overall.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon will be in the lineup on Thursday.

The Minnesota Wild host the Utah Hockey Club Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center, and could be getting two of their best players back from injury. Forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon were on the ice with the team at practice on Wednesday at TRIA Rink.

Shifts to IR

Brodin (lower body) will not join the Wild for their two-game road trip, Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Friday.