NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the suspension of Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman for slamming an opponent’s head to the ice, while making the unusual decision on Monday to reduce the penalty from 10 games to the union-recommended eight after hearing Hartman’s in-person appeal.

Analyzing Saturday’s Minnesota Wild at Detroit Red Wings odds and lines, with NHL expert picks, predictions and best bets.

Kirill Kaprizov will be out longer than anticipated for the Minnesota Wild because of a lower-body injury, general manager Bill Guerin said Friday. The forward had surgery in late January because of a lower-body injury and was expected to be out a minimum of four weeks.

He’s hard not to appreciate. As a guy who’s on this team, I think he lacks a little appreciation around the league, just how skilled he is, how big he is, how impressive he protects the puck,”

I know what you’re thinking. Marat Khusnutdinov is who he is, and he isn’t going to improve his offensive production dramatically. He’s worse than Connor Dewar. Khusnutdinov has been a replacement-level player.

Brock Boeser would look so sick in Forest Green, wouldn’t he? Two years ago, I wrote a piece outlining why the Wild should bring the Burnsville native back to the State of Hockey. Ultimately, Minnesota traded for Gustav Nyquist and Marcus Johansson instead.