Kirill Kaprizov wears 'caution jersey' at Wild practice. How close is star's return?

The Wild haven't missed a beat in the absence of leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov.

But that doesn't mean they wouldn't love to have him back.

Kaprizov participated in his first practice Wednesday since suffering a lower-body injury on March 8 in a 4-2 victory over Winnipeg. He wore the yellow caution jersey, meaning no contact. He traveled with the team to Pittsburgh for Thursday's game, but won't play yet.

"He's an elite athlete and it doesn't look like it's going to take long," coach Dean Evason said. "He's begging to play on the penalty kill."

The Wild are 7-2-3 in Kaprizov's absence, clinching a playoff berth with five games remaining.

The 25-year-old winger became the franchise's first 100-point scorer last season and has a team-high 39 goals and 74 points this season. Injured Wild players aren't available to the media, so he won't talk until he's cleared to play … which could be sometime this weekend.

Evason hinted either Kaprizov or winger Gustav Nyquist (shoulder) could be in the lineup Saturday. Nyquist, who hasn't been in a game with the Wild since his trade deadline arrival, seems a more likely candidate.

The injured players must be cleared by doctors and trainers, but "ultimately it's the player that has to make the decision," Evason said.

The Wild use Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson fairly evenly. Fleury has 43 starts, a 2.82 goals-against average and .910 saves percentage.

Gustavsson, with 34 starts, is second in the NHL behind Boston's Linus Ullmark at 2.03 and .932.

Last season, Fleury got the playoff start ahead of All-Star Cam Talbot and played the first five games of a six-game loss to the Blues.

And this season?

"It's a discussion every single year. Who's your guy?" Evason said. "We've had both goaltenders, all season long, so would we feel comfortable playing both goaltenders? Absolutely. Would we feel great if one goaltender kept just playing great and we just kept going? Sure.

"That's not going to be something that we'll say we'll do 100 percent when we get there. We'll do exactly what we do all season long, which is evaluate game by game, make our choice, hopefully it's the right one."

The Wild earned a Western Conference playoff berth and play Thursday night at Pittsburgh. The Penguins, which have been in the playoffs for 17 consecutive seasons, are a point behind the final spot of the Eastern wild-card race.

"Just because we made the playoffs we can't go, ah, it's OK," Evason said. "We have to have desperation in our game, too, even though we're not playing to get into the playoffs. … We're playing, most importantly, to play well when we do get in the playoffs."