ST. LOUIS — In March 2018, Jake Neighbours turned 16 and got his driver’s license. From then on, playing for the Midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes, he’d pick up teammate Ozzy Wiesblatt in his gold 2010 Chevy Malibu and the two would head to practice and games together.

It may be days or even weeks before Minnesota Wild fans see superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov back on the rink in his game uniform, but at Thursday’s morning skate, coach John Hynes gave the first indication that better days may be ahead for the high-scoring Russian.