Don’t ask Nico Sturm what he’s doing on Monday. By this point in a long NHL season, the Minnesota Wild forward has only two days on his weekly calendar: game days and off days, with an occasional travel day or practice day mixed in.

The NHL is breaking for three weeks in February so that a few hundred of its players can travel to Italy and represent their countries at the Winter Olympics. Sturm will skate for his native Germany. The means trips like the one the Wild just completed, three games in four nights on the road, have become commonplace.

“Playing every other night, there’s not much time to think about stuff, anyway. It’s a game day or it’s a not game day,” Sturm said following the team’s Thursday morning skate at TRIA Rink. “Whoever is in the lineup is in the lineup. There’s not much time to think about other stuff.”

Minnesota went 2-1-0 on the just-concluded trip, and improved to 6-2-2 in its last 10 road games despite missing five veterans from the lineup. According to coach John Hynes, forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson were potentially able to return for Thursday’s late game against the Detroit Red Wings at Grand Casino Arena.

For players who have missed time due to injury, Sturm said, the time away from the rink can be as much about a mental break as a physical one.

“It’s huge to get guys back, and I think that even though they were hurt, you get fresh legs back, too,” he said. “And sometimes when we play every night, even from a mental standpoint, when you don’t play for a week or even just like 3-4 days, your headspace feels totally different. So, it’s good to have those guys come in with a fresh set of eyes and a mental break.”

Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy were on the ice with a skating coach before the team’s optional skate, and Hynes said there’s a chance Boldy could return for Saturday’s game against Florida after sitting out the four games required due to his presence on the injured reserve list.

“I would say Boldy is trending towards day to day,” Hynes said. “He had a big workday today where he skated with (skating coach) Andy (Ness) prior to practice, skating now. We’ll see how he responds to that…But he has progressed pretty well.”

Defenseman Zach Bogosian skated on Thursday morning, as well, but was available against Detroit.

It will be a longer road for defenseman Jonas Brodin, who will miss the Olympics for Team Sweden after having surgery for a lower body injury, although Hynes said the ailment is not season-ending.

“He got (surgery) done and it’s a good time for him,” Hynes said. “He will be back, for sure, with more than enough time in the season.”

Heading into the meeting with the Red Wings, the Wild had missed 159 man-games due to injury.

Related Articles

Vladimir Tarasenko hitting his stride at vital time for Wild

Late goal sinks Wild in Montreal

Wild shut down Jonas Brodin; he will miss Olympics for Sweden

Filling roles: Marcus Foligno’s first hat trick keeps Wild rolling

Wild rake in Toronto, blowing past Leafs