ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Jason Zucker's breakthrough season with the Minnesota Wild is likely finished.
Minnesota announced Tuesday that Zucker will be having surgery on Thursday to repair a broken clavicle and will be out approximately three months. Zucker is second on the Wild with 18 goals, and fourth in shots (116) and hits (64).
Meanwhile, the team also announced forward Ryan Carter will miss a minimum of one month with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Both players were injured in the first period of Monday's win against the Vancouver Canucks.
Zucker, 23, had already surpassed his previous career-highs with 18 goals and 23 points this season, while playing much of the past two months on one of the Minnesota's top two lines. Zucker and Carter also filled valuable penalty-killing roles.
Carter, 31, had three goals, 10 assists and a team-high 53 penalty minutes, while playing to a plus-4 rating in 48 games this season. Carter is third on the team with 70 hits. His 10 assists this season are a career-high.
Zucker had been getting comfortable with his expanding role in the Wild's attack.
"Getting in a bit of a comfort zone," Zucker explained last week, "where you know what you're supposed to do every night and the way you're supposed to play every night. That's a good thing. I've had a lot of help from a lot of the guys really showing me the way and the way I need to play."
The Wild recalled forward Brett Sutter and defenseman Stu Bickel on Tuesday to help account for the loss of Zucker and Carter, who were placed on injured reserve in a corresponding move.
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