Parise to return against the Panthers; Porter hopes to still be a member of the Wild on Sunday

Update: Chris Porter has cleared waivers and is expected to play today vs. the Panthers. However, if the Wild needs his roster spot and cap space before Monday's 2 p.m. deadline, he now can be reassigned.

Very crowded practice down at Braemar today for the Wild, which had Zach Parise, Devan Dubnyk, Jason Zucker and Jonas Brodin all taking part.

Dubnyk will at least dress Sunday against the Florida Panthers and my guess start, while Parise will return after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury. He skated on his normal line with Charlie Coyle and Mikko Koivu, who will play in his franchise-record 744th game. Koivu will be recognized during the first TV timeout.

As you know, Chris Porter was put on waivers today, so one would think the Wild's got something cooking. But as of now, GM Chuck Fletcher is saying this is just to create roster flexibility if he needs his roster spot and an extra $575,000 in cap space to make a trade.

If he clears at 11 a.m. and if no trade is made before the 2 p.m. game, the Wild would probably keep Porter up and play him against the Panthers. Remember, this is the NHL, not other spots. Porter was not "waived." He was placed on waivers. It allows the Wild the ability to send him to the minors if it wants to provided he clears.

And as John Torchetti said today, he likes the way Porter is playing on that line with Mikael Granlund and Thomas Vanek. "I like his game," Torchetti said. "We've liked his game the last few games. He's complemented that line. He's done a great job as the F1, as the hard forechecker, getting the cycles going and doing well defensively."

If Porter is claimed Sunday or is ultimately assigned to Iowa, the Wild would technically be able to add a $3.9 million player or $3.9 million in players WITHOUT giving up money itself. (By the way, at this time of year, I really thank generalfanager and capfriendly. Check out their sites and their Twitter accounts.)

Pat Micheletti's sources tell him "something happen today involving a forward from Edmonton!!" We shall see. Nail Yakupov or injured Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could probably be had for a price, including a solid, young defenseman.

Porter knows there's a chance Sunday he ends up on one of 29 other teams or even in Iowa.

"It's not easy. I've done this quite a bit in my career though, so you learn to cope with it a little bit," Porter said. "But it's nice to come out and practice with the guys and forget about it for an hour. Now it's a waiting game to see what happens. I hope I don't get picked up. I feel like I've made a home here with this team and I'd really like to help by contributing in the playoffs."

Zucker, out the past three games with a concussion, isn't eligible to come off injured reserve until at least Monday and said he has to clear some more "hoops" before he can return. He said he didn't feel he was nailed with a dirty hit last week, but he said the concussion came from the hit, not his head smacking the ice.

And you could tell on replay he was under duress before hitting the ice.

Parise said he feels good.

"With the spot we're in this time of year, it's not fun missing games," Parise said. "I thought we played really well [on the road]. To me it looked like they controlled a lot of the game against Washington and frustrated them and I thought limited their chances.
"It's tough to come home from that without getting a single point when I thought we could have at least had three. It's too bad they didn't get rewarded for some pretty good hockey they played."

The Wild hasn't won at Xcel Energy Center since Dec. 28.

"A win would spark us, a good game tomorrow would hopefully get us going in the right direction and hopefully get us on a good note to start the next month and put together some home games in March," Parise said.

A much-needed home win would be the perfect way for Koivu to commemorate becoming the most-tenured player in team history.

"For sure it's something special,'' said Koivu, 32, who is the team's all-time leader in assists (386) and points (543). "When you think back, and think of all the players who played with the Wild, then you realize you have the most games, it's special.''

Koivu has played with 164 teammates in his time here. Saturday he remembered back to his debut in the 2005-06 season, a debut that was delayed until November after Koivu injured his knee in the preseason finale. Koivu lined up as a fourth-line center in San Jose on Nov. 5, 2005 with Kyle Wanvig and Derek Boogaard as his wingers. He played 20 shifts that night, but did not register a point. That came the following night, when he scored in Anaheim, with Wanvig and Pierre-Marc Bouchard getting the assists.

"There were a lot of nerves," he said.