Ravaged by concussion issues over the last three seasons, Pierre-Marc Bouchard is ready to return to action.
The Minnesota Wild activated Bouchard from injured reserve on Thursday, suggesting he’ll be in the lineup and ready to play on Saturday when the Wild host Colorado.
Bouchard, 28, missed the final 41 games of last year due to a concussion suffered on this hit from Winnipeg’s Zach Bogosian:
It was the latest in a long line of concussion issues for Bouchard, who missed 112 of 113 games over a span from March 2009 to December 2010.
Last month, Bouchard resumed practicing with AHL Houston and told Mike Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune he’d been “pretty much symptom free” for a few weeks.
A gifted offensive player — despite all the injuries, he’s racked up 60 points in his last 96 games — Bouchard will add some punch to a Minnesota lineup that looks to have far more scoring depth than a year ago.
Russo reports Bouchard will skate on the third like with Kyle Brodziak (Wild’s second-leading goalscorer last year, with 22) and Cal Clutterbuck.
That unit will be behind the top line of Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Dany Heatley and the second line of Matt Cullen-Mikael Granlund-Devin Setoguchi.
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