Wild’s Ryan Suter needs surgery, will miss postseason with fractured ankle

The Minnesota Wild have dealt with and adapted to injuries all season long, but none as devastating as this: Ryan Suter will miss the entire playoffs with a broken ankle.

The Minnesota Wild are locked in a race to the finish for a playoff berth and facing a unfavorable first round matchup no matter what. Now they must face all the challenges ahead without their No. 1 defenseman, Ryan Suter.

With just less than a week left in the regular season, the Minnesota Wild confirmed that Suter has will require surgery on his fractured ankle and will miss the remained of the regular season, along with the entire postseason, regardless how far Minnesota goes.

Suter logged more minutes per game than any other player on the Wild, with more than 26 minutes per game. The injury will also end Suter’s 242 consecutive regular-season games streak.

Suter suffered the injury on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars. Suter’s right foot slammed into the boards after a hit by Stars forward Remi Elie. Suter headed to the locker room while putting no weight on his right ankle and did not return to the game. Dallas would defeat Minnesota 4-1 that night.

Suter is also not alone on the blue line in terms of injuries. Suter joins Jared Spurgeon on the injured reserve list, but Spurgeron is expected to rejoin the club before the postseason.

Suter is one of the finest defenders in the league in his own zone, but he’s been no slouch offensively with six goals and 45 assists for 51 points in 78 games, which leads the team. Suter was the last person Minnesota could afford to lose, and now the Wild have to look inward to replace the production.

Despite the injury, Minnesota is not ready to throw in the towel just yet, especially coach Bruce Boudreau. “Every team, they lose good players and then they gotta come out and play,” Boudreau said, per the Star Tribune. “We’re no different there, so we’re going to put our best foot forward and we’re going to play.”

The injury gives an opportunity to Carson Soucy, who made his NHL debut on Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers. Soucy slotted into the third pairing alongside Nate Prosser and will have to adjust quickly to the NHL level after spending the previous four seasons at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota has been almost thrown away and forgotten despite being third in the Central Division for a majority of the season, but the Wild are not out of the woods yet when it comes to clinching. The Wild shut out the Oilers on Monday night and will secure a playoff berth if the Colorado Avalanche lose in regulation to the Los Angeles Kings.

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Minnesota will likely draw the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, a matchup that was enough cause for worry with Suter in the lineup. Without their No. 1 defenseman, the Wild are in serious trouble against the high-powered Winnipeg offense. Anything can happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the Wild are going to have to dig deep to down the Jets and make a deep playoff run.