"Wild coach Mike Yeo and Mikko Koivu stopped short of declaring the captain ready to return, but all signs point to him being in the lineup for Thursday's home game against Vancouver.

Sidelined since suffering a separated left shoulder on Jan. 14 at St. Louis, Koivu participated in every contact drill Wednesday in practice and reported no problems. If his shoulder responds favorably overnight, he will return to the lineup. That scenario seems likely because the team placed Jed Ortmeyer on waivers to clear a roster spot.

"It's getting better, and each and every day it's getting stronger," Koivu said. "That's a good sign. Being in practice and being involved physically and having contact, you get more comfortable each and every time it happens. It helps a lot conditioning-wise but more important timing-wise."

Koivu worked on a line with Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi in practice, and Koivu is expected to center those two when he returns."