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The Minnesota Wild recalled forwards Nico Sturm and Luke Johnson from the Iowa Wild on Monday after placing center Joel Eriksson Ek on injured reserve.
Eriksson Ek, who has been having a great season centering the “GEEK Squad” line, is not expected to make the last two games of Minnesota’s road trip, and with the return of Mikko Koivu nearing, the team obviously feels that they don’t need to rush him back from injury and can just plug in one of Sturm or Johnson for the next couple of games.
#mnwild recall Luke Johnson for the first time and fellow center Nico Sturm. Kaapo Kahkonen sent back to Iowa with Dubnyk close to return maybe Thursday and Joel Eriksson Ek (upper body) placed on IR.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 16, 2019
Also of note, Devan Dubnyk is on the current road trip after missing nearly a month due to a personal family health issue, and could possibly get the start on Thursday in Arizona. Kaapo Kahkonen, who went 3-1-1 with a 2.96 GAA and a .913 SV% in five games played for Minnesota, will go back to the Iowa Wild, where he will continue to develop.