Wild place Jonas Brodin on long-term injured reserve

The Minnesota Wild have placed defenseman Jonas Brodin on long-term injured reserve, retroactive to January 7th.

Brodin has missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury that he sustained on January 7th against the St. Louis Blues. He had blocked a shot in the game, and while he played 32:42 in the game, he did get hurt on the play and has since missed action. The Wild have gone just 3-6-0 during his absence, while also dealing with injuries to Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon and Kirill Kaprizov at various points of that span.

The move comes after the Wild head coach John Hynes confirmed that neither Brodin or winger Marcus Johansson will join the team for their upcoming four-game road trip. That would put Brodin will past the 10-game minimum requirement to be on LTIR, so it was an easy move to make to gain cap space and roster flexibility. There’s no indication as to if the Wild will recall a player before Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Brodin has been producing as expected when he’s been healthy, with 4 goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 31 games. That’s a 42-point pace over the course of 82 games, which would be a career-high, but like this season, Brodin has struggled to play full seasons throughout his career.

Brodin has also been one of the Wild’s best defensive defensemen when he’s been in the lineup, with his 2.13 5v5 expected goals against per 60 being third on the team, and 16th in the league amongst defensemen with at least 500 minutes this season.

The Wild currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with a 29-17-4 record. They will look to build off of Sunday’s 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks when they visit the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CST.