Wild confirm big injury ahead of Round 2.

The Minnesota Wild are heading into a very difficult second round matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, the team with the National Hockey League's best record over the 2025-26 regular season, and will have to do so without a significant piece of their lineup.

On Sunday, Wild head coach John Hynes officially confirmed that Wild centerman Joel Eriksson Ek will miss the start of the series. While Eriksson Ek has not been ruled out for all of round 2, Hynes was able to confirm that he would miss both Game 1 and Game 2 of the series, and did leave open the possibility that he could miss more.

That being said, Hynes did express his hopes that Eriksson Ek will be healthy enough to play in Game 3, although the Wild will of course have to wait until they get closer to that game to make any kind of real determination on that front.

According to a report from Wild insider Michael Russo, it sounds like it will likely be Danila Yurov or Hunter Haight who will be called upon to step into the lineup for Game 1 as a result of Eriksson Ek's injury, although that decision is still being debated internally.

A tough break for the Wild to be sure, especially right before facing off against such a challenging opponent.