Wild leaning on structure as blue line depth to be tested vs. Blues Thursday night

The Minnesota Wild will once again be shorthanded on the back end Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues, forcing coach John Hynes to rely on organizational depth and what he believes has become one of his team’s biggest strengths: structure.

The Wild host the Blues at 7 p.m.

Hynes announced Thursday morning that captain Jared Spurgeon will miss the game with an upper-body injury suffered in the Wild’s game against Vegas on Monday. Defenseman Olli Määttä is also sidelined with an upper-body injury sustained in Winnipeg Tuesday. Neither player has a timetable for a return. Forwards Nick and Marcus Foligno has resumed skating, but Hynes also declined to provide a timeline for his return.

Those absences come in addition to the continued absence of Brock Faber, leaving Minnesota without three key defensemen.

***Click the video box above to watch Hynes’ media sessio...