What Kirill Kaprizov achieved before getting injured didn't go unnoticed.
The Wild leading scorer was picked for the NHL All-Star Game on Thursday, his third selection in as many years.
Kaprizov has 34 points (13 goals and 21 assists) in 34 games and was on a six-game point streak (10 points) before suffering an upper-body injury last Saturday at Winnipeg after getting cross-checked in the back by the Jets' Brenden Dillon. He missed a third straight game on Thursday and is on injured reserve, but coach John Hynes said Kaprizov is progressing from an injury that's expected to keep him out around a week.
One player from each team was selected by the NHL's Hockey Operations Department, and an additional 12 players will be decided by a fan vote that began Thursday and will run until Jan. 11.
This year's festivities, which include a skills competition, will be held at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 1-3, and the captains of the four All-Star squads (nine skaters and two goaltenders) will fill out their teams in a televised player draft.
Kaprizov, 26, is the second player in Wild history to be chosen to three All-Star games and first in three consecutive seasons.
A fifth-round draft pick in 2015, Kaprizov has 127 goals and 141 assists for 268 points in 237 games with the Wild since his debut in 2021. The winger has won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, set single-season franchise records for goals, assists and points and is in the third season of a five-year, $45 million contract.
