Rumor: Injured Wild forward to make a surprise return tonight.

A National Hockey League veteran who suffered a major injury earlier this season may be set to make a surprise comeback to the line up on Monday night. 

Very early in the season Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle suffered a broken fibula, an injury that was expected to keep him on the sidelines for at least two months, however it looks like he may be back early. 

Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo is now reporting that multiple signs appear to indicate that Coyle will return despite not yet having practiced with his teammates since returning to the ice. From The Athletic:

1) Coyle, who broke his right fibula Oct. 12 in Chicago, took part in the morning skate and came off the ice with the rest of his teammates instead of getting bag skated afterward by the assistant coaches.

2) Chris Stewart, who has no points in the past 13 games and took a penalty coach Bruce Boudreau was upset with last game against Washington, was last off the ice with defenseman Mike Reilly.

3) Boudreau once again insisted Coyle will play this week: “Don’t know if it’s tonight, tomorrow or the weekend, but he’s a big, strong guy that is healing quite quickly.”

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It's a great sign for the Wild who have been on a bit of a run as of late winning four of their last five games. While there may be some legitimate concern about Coyle returning early and re-injuring himself, given the Wild's recent success it seems unlikely that the team would feel a need to rush him back.

That being said Coyle would be returning early if he were to play tonight, and if he were to re-injure himself there likely would be a great deal of criticism heaped on the Wild.