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Report: Wild's Harding fractured foot kicking a wall; expected to miss 2-3 months

Marc DesRosiers / USA Today

Details regarding the circumstances surrounding Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding's off-ice foot injury are starting to emerge, and the picture is not pretty.

According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Harding fractured his foot kicking a wall following an altercation with a teammate. If true, the self-inflicted nature of the injury - which is expected to sideline Harding for at least two to three months - adds an unfortunate turn in the preseason storyline for the Wild.

With restricted free agent goalie Darcy Kuemper still unsigned, the Wild find themselves shorthanded in the crease - an unpleasant surprise for coach Mike Yeo.

“My staff, we’ve been making plans on who’s practicing, what practices we’re going to have, who’s playing in the exhibition games, and this was under the assumption we would have Kuemps and Hards, and obviously things have changed dramatically,” Yeo said. “I put on the cool face last year pretending we weren’t frustrated about (our goaltending issues), but we’re not even Day One into camp and we’re already talking about it.”

Yeo is refusing to dwell on the injury and is keeping his focus on the players who are on the ice, like veteran netminder Niklas Backstrom. Ilya Bryzgalov traveled to Minnesota on Thursday after the Wild signed him to a professional tryout contract and will try to earn a roster spot in place of Harding.

TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that as long as Harding is injured, he will not be paid by the Wild and his contract will not count against the salary cap.

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