Wild’s Vinnie Hinostroza out 4-6 weeks with lower-body injury

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes put a clear timeline on the return to game action for injured forward Vinnie Hinostroza.

After the team previously described Hinostroza’s status as week-to-week, Hynes told a group of reporters including Michael Russo of The Athletic that Hinostroza would be out four to six weeks with his lower-body injury.

The injury occurred as a result of a hit from Ryan Graves of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night in a game that Minnesota won in a 5-0 romp. The veteran recorded two shots on goal before leaving the game after 8:08 of ice time.

So far this season, Hinostroza has 5 points in 22 games while skating to a minus-5 rating in an average of 11:21 of time on ice per game. The 31-year-old forward from Chicago is in his second season as a member of the Wild, and has made stops in Nashville, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Florida and Arizona throughout his career after being drafted by and debuting with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In his 11 NHL seasons, Hinostroza has compiled 166 points in 433 career regular season games in the form of 61 goals and 105 assists. A sixth-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, Hinostroza had the best season of his career in the 2018-19 campaign when he racked up 39 points in 72 games during his time with the Coyotes.

The Wild are in the midst of a five-game winning streak that has completely erased a dreadful start to the season and put them exactly where fans could have reasonably hoped they’d be, third place in the Central Division with a record of 12-7-4.

Minnesota has a pair of key divisional matchups next up on its schedule, as the Wild visit Chicago on Wednesday night before hosting first-place Colorado on Black Friday.