ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild will be at full strength when they face the best-in-the-NHL Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
And that includes having gold-medal winners Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes in the lineup.
The trio of Americans, who visited the White House and attended the State of the Union on Tuesday, flew back to Minnesota on Wednesday morning on owner Craig Leipold’s plane and joined the Wild on their charter to Denver.
Coach John Hynes said Boldy, Faber and Hughes are expected to play against the Utah Mammoth on Friday, as well.
“We have a set plan, but you’re not going to be able to recover from (the Olympics) even if it’s a day or two off,” said Hynes, who was part of the U.S. coaching staff. “It’s going to be on those three guys to be able to manage themselves the right way away from the game. We’ll talk with them about what they need.
“But the plan is for them to play, and I know they want to play.”
Boldy, Faber and Hughes all played key roles — and big minutes — for the U.S. Boldy scored the Americans’ only regulation goal in their 2-1 win over Canada in the gold-medal game. Faber was a fixture in the top four and on the penalty kill. And Hughes was named the top defenseman of the tournament.
With the Wild opening up with three games in four nights, including Sunday’s home game against the St. Louis Blues, Hynes said they’ll work with the players on giving them a day off or optional skates, but it won’t include missing games. The Wild are just three points behind the Central Division-leading Avalanche, who have three games in hand, and one point ahead of the third-place Dallas Stars.
“Those guys are competitive guys and the experience is great for them,” Hynes said. “But as I am excited to come back to this team. We have a really good team here. Our expectations coming in after the break is getting us up and running again and being a competitive team, and our focus turns to the Wild.
“We need them to play in games and be good players for us. How do we manage around that to get them in and give them the ability to do that? That’s where we’ll work in tandem with them. But it’s a lot of the responsibility of the players to make sure they’re getting the rest and recovery when they’re not here.”
Medical matters
The Wild come out of the Olympics relatively healthy, which is fortunate considering they had eight players participating.
A large portion of the team has been practicing in St. Paul for the past week in a mini-training camp at TRIA Rink. Everyone except the three U.S. Olympic players was at practice on Wednesday, including Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed Tuesday’s workout due to illness. Hynes said there were no issues with Boldy, Faber or Hughes that would limit them.
Joel Eriksson Ek, who took (and delivered) a number of tough hits in the Olympics for Team Sweden, said he took a couple of days off after returning from the Olympics and is feeling strong for the stretch run.
“I feel good,” Eriksson Ek said. “I’m excited to be back and start back up here.”
Jonas Brodin also joined team skates on Tuesday and Wednesday, though he was in non-contact mode. Brodin underwent surgery on a lower-body injury in mid-January, which forced him to miss the Olympics and was expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. Hynes said Wednesday that he didn’t have a timetable yet on Brodin but that he “looked really good” and is doing everything but contact, which “is a good sign.” Hynes said he’d know more early next week.
Trade winds
The NHL trade deadline is approaching March 6, and president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin has said the Hughes blockbuster in December put them in more of a “win-now mode” than they’ve ever been. He is hoping to add at the deadline, preferably a center.
Vincent Trocheck has been linked with Minnesota, and the veteran New York Rangers would fill some needs up the middle and with faceoffs.
Veteran Marcus Foligno, an alternate captain, gave an interesting answer when asked Wednesday about his expectations for the deadline.
“It’s a little different this year,” Foligno said. “We have a great team. I think whatever move we do or don’t do, I think we’ll be just fine. If we can add, great. If it’s a big piece, that’s awesome. But Billy knows it’s got to be someone who can come into the dressing room and can jell well with the work ethic we have and take off running from there.
“I like our team. I really like the way we’re built and the way we compete every night.”
The focus for the team, Foligno said, is trying to continue to move up in the standings, with the Avalanche within reach.
“I know they have a couple games in hand, but there’s four big points up for grabs,” Foligno said of Thursday’s matchup and next weekend’s game in Denver. “It’d be awesome to catch and surpass them. For a team that’s been in the NHL kind of looked at as the Goliath a little bit, to be right there with them at the break was huge. Now we feel confident. We want that No. 1 spot for sure. But we’re happy with the way we’re playing, and getting into the playoffs is the most important thing.”