Mats Zuccarello will miss the start of the regular season for the Minnesota Wild with a lower-body injury.

The 38-year-old forward is expected to miss a minimum of 7-8 weeks. Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Sept. 18 that "something came up" and did not know if Zuccarello would need surgery.

The Wild open the regular season at the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 9.

Zuccarello is one of nine skaters from Norway to play in the NHL. The undrafted forward signed with the New York Rangers on May 26, 2010, and played nine seasons for the Rangers and one with the Dallas Stars before getting a five-year contract from the Wild on July 1, 2019. He has 690 points (217 goals, 473 assists) in 904 regular-season games and 58 points (19 goals, 39 assists) in 102 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

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