Minnesota Wild star Marian Gaborik will miss the next two games, but it was not his idea. Wild assistant general manager Tom Lynn told the Star Tribune on Tuesday night that Gaborik was being held out by the team in order to let his troublesome groin rest and heal.
"Marian's going to take the Christmas break off, and it looks like we're not going to play him in the two games back-to-back. We're doing this, not him," Lynn told the Star Tribune. "When he played back-to-back the other day, he got very sore. We were thinking of playing him in one game and not the other, but [GM] Doug [Risebrough] made the decision that he's going to make [Gaborik] rest for four days and hold him out.
"Hopefully he'll be back full-time after that."
The decision means that Gaborik will not play Sunday against Chicago or Monday at Calgary.
Gaborik missed 27 games with a groin problem, but had played in the last four contests. He had a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Carolina, playing almost 19 minutes.
Lynn was asked point blank if Gaborik was being held out pending a trade, since the NHL's holiday trade freeze ends Sunday after the Calgary game.
"I would say 100 percent I'm not holding him out for a trade," Lynn told the Star Tribune.
Gaborik said he didn't think a trade was in the works and just wants to get back to being completely healthy.
"I want to feel strong, stronger than I feel right now and I want to be close to 100 percent," Gaborik told the Star Tribune. "This is what Doug decided. Doug decided to take this route."
