Less than a week ago, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin was saying that he didn’t want defensive prospect David Jiricek to be recalled if he wasn’t going to be playing on an every-game basis at the NHL level. But injuries can make plans change.

With Brock Faber injured in Tuesday’s home win over St. Louis, and Jared Spurgeon’s return still likely weeks away, the Wild are in need of a body on the blue line and recalled Jiricek from their Iowa AHL team on Wednesday.

Fans may see the good-sized Czech make his Minnesota debut when the team hosts Colorado on Thursday night.

Jiricek, 21, has two assists and 11 penalty minutes in 11 games with Iowa since Guerin traded with the Columbus Blue Jackets to get him on Nov. 30. Originally picked sixth overall by Columbus in the 2022 NHL Draft, he has played 53 NHL games with one goal.

The Wild sent forward Devin Shore down to Iowa on Wednesday, as well. Shore, 30, has played in 21 NHL games this season with one assist.

Minnesota concluded the first half of the 82-game NHL season with a 26-11-4 mark, within striking distance of  egas and Winnipeg, who lead the Western Conference and the Central Division, respectively. The Wild and Colorado face off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Xcel Energy Center in the teams’ first head-to-head meeting of the season.

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