Wild to activate former top-10 pick off LTIR

The Wild will activate defenseman Jonas Brodin off long-term injured reserve prior to Monday's contest against the Islanders, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports. Brodin, 30, will play for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on Dec. 8, ending a 17-game absence.

He is expected to return to his top-pairing role alongside rookie Brock Faber, a role he’s held in all of his 25 appearances this season. His return relieves the immense pressure to shoulder heavy minutes placed on depth defenders like Zach Bogosian and Alex Goligoski, who haven’t been up to the task. Without Brodin in the fold, the Wild went 8-8-1 with a -13 goal differential and now sit squarely in seventh place in the Central Division, five points behind the Blues and Coyotes. Their chances of making the playoffs are now down to 3.4%, per Hockey Reference.

Brodin continues to perform as a premier shutdown defender heading into his 30s. He had logged a goal and eight assists this season before exiting with injury, and his 23:59 average ice time is his highest mark in nine seasons and the second-highest of his career. The Swede has once again controlled the majority of scoring chances at even strength with a 53.6% Corsi share, and his pairing with Faber has controlled 57% of expected goals when on the ice together.

Minnesota remains without one other key piece on their blueline, however. That’s captain Jared Spurgeon, who has re-aggravated his lower-body injury sustained in December and has missed the Wild’s last six games. Russo added that Spurgeon is likely being moved to LTIR in order to free up the cap space to activate Brodin, which would rule him out until January 27 at the earliest, meaning he’ll miss at least six more games.

Brodin has four seasons remaining after this one at a $6M cap hit. He’ll reach UFA status in 2028.