The Wild had their best player back for the first time in a month, but they didn’t play like it. Kirill Kaprizov’s return was spoiled by a 4-0 shellacking from Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center that continued the Wild’s woes at home.

If Kaprizov has surgery this week for a lower-body injury that has been ailing him since December, he would miss six weeks, per sources.

The Minnesota Wild will have to temporarily find a way to survive without star forward Kirill Kaprizov amid the latest news.

Wild scoring leader Kirill Kaprizov will be out week-to-week with surgery planned for a lower-body injury. The team’s scoring leader has played the past three games at less full strength. He had sat out 12 games before coming back last Thursday against Utah.

It is not a season-ending injury, but it will put him on the shelf for the next little while,” Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin said, meeting with reporters at TRIA Rink

Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic are reporting that Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov could require surgery. The superstar recently returned after missing time and has played in three games since his attempted comeback on January 23 against Utah.

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes said he is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon will return to the lineup against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday.

Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov (#97) will miss at least four weeks after surgery later this week. Photo: Ellen Schmidt/ The struggling Minnesota Wild got bad news Tuesday: Top scorer Kirill Kaprizov will have surgery later this week.