Short-term injuries and the Wild’s tight salary cap situation has led to a problematic start to this season for Minnesota.
The Wild, searching for their first victory, hopped on their short charter flight to Chicago on Wednesday afternoon with only 20 healthy bodies, including only 11 forwards.
That means for the second game out of three, the Wild will play short the typical 12 forwards Thursday night against the Blackhawks because they can’t afford to recall a forward to replace injured Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund.
The Wild, $206,000 from the $75 million cap ceiling, could actually send defenseman Mike Reilly to Iowa just to get an extra forward for Thursday's game.