Minnesota Wild defenseman Jon Merrill (upper body) will end a 10-game absence on Thursday against Vancouver. He will replace Jordie Benn in the lineup and link up with Alex Goligoski. Merrill has gotten very little love from fantasy managers this season, but he's quietly enjoyed a pretty good year for a bottom-pairing defenseman with 18 points, 103 blocks and a plus-15 rating in 63 outings. The Wild defense is also close to getting Matt Dumba (upper body) back, but he still needs a bit more time to recover and won't play against the Canucks nor on Friday versus Seattle.
