Nick Foligno Exits Wild Game Early With Upper-Body Injury
Nick Foligno lasted only 3:29 on Tuesday night.
Across five shifts against the Buffalo Sabres, the 38-year-old Minnesota Wild forward managed a couple of hits and then disappeared down the tunnel with an upper-body injury. The team offered no detail on when or how it happened, and no update followed after the final horn.
The moment that jumped out came earlier in the game, when Foligno stepped up to deliver a hit on Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin absorbed the contact and skated through it, sending the older forward to the ice. Whether that collision caused the injury is unknown — Minnesota has said nothing beyond listing him as done for the night.
Foligno arrived in Minnesota at last March's trade deadline, when the Chicago Blackhawks sent the former Columbus Blue Jackets captain to the Wild for future considerations. He put up four points in 17 regular-season games, then added two goals and an assist in 11 playoff contests as Minnesota reached the second round before falling to the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
He re-signed in the offseason on a one-year deal carrying a $900,000 cap hit, and had dressed for all three Wild games this season, scoring in the opener against Nashville last Thursday. That stands as his only point of 2026-27. He entered Tuesday averaging 13:11 of ice time with a plus/minus of plus-2.
The game itself slipped away too. Minnesota led 2-0 on the road before Buffalo stormed back, forced overtime, and won 3-2. It was a sour ending against the former team of Foligno's brother Marcus.
In 1,289 career regular-season games, Foligno has 252 goals and 361 assists for 613 points, plus 30 points in 79 playoff appearances.
What the Wild need now is a timeline. What they have is a veteran leader in the tunnel and a roster already leaning on him for grit.
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