The Minnesota Wild are 12-3-4 and sit first in the Central Division with 28 points as they start a three-game road trip tonight in Montreal.

That’s about as good as a start that anyone could have hoped for, especially while we continue to wait on a Dylan Larkin trade and/or Quinn Hughes extension. Even more impressive, the Wild have piled up all of their wins and points with a lineup missing some of its best players, especially on the blue line.

Minnesota Wild getting Jared Spurgeon and Michael McCarron back

Not only has Minnesota has been without its captain Jared Spurgeon for the last two weeks, but the Wild have been without Brock Faber too, one of two Olympic-winning defensemen on roster when healthy.

But that may be changing Tuesday, in a big way. According to Michael Russo (The Athletic) Jared Spurgeon will come off injured reserve and play tonight against the Canadiens. His roster spot opens at 1 p.m., when Cameron Crotty and Tyler Pitlick come off the roster after the Wild waived them Monday.

Spurgeon has one goal and four assists in 10 games. Since he went down with a lower-body injury on Oct. 27, the Minnesota Wild have gone 3-0-2. Additionally, Michael McCarron is expected back for Tuesday’s game.

McCarron, who signed a long-term contract extension this offseason, left Friday’s 4-1 win over San Jose in the third period with an upper-body injury, then sat out Saturday and was back on the ice for Monday’s practice. On the season, he has three goals and five assists in 18 games.

Is Brock Faber back for the Wild in Montreal?

And that brings us to the other “question mark” on the Minnesota Wild’s blue line this afternoon. If Russo’s mystery defenseman does take the ice, it would mean David Spacek comes out of the lineup. If McCarron plays, Nico Sturm sits.

Jonas Brodin took a maintenance day Monday, but John Hynes has already said Brodin and Quinn Hughes will play. Meanwhile, Brock Faber traveled with the team to Montreal and has been practicing with the team since last week.

As mentioned above, Faber has missed all of the Minnesota Wild’s 19 games this season, after he took a shot near his left ear in the final preseason game against Dallas on Sept. 25. A CT scan at Regions Hospital later found a skull fracture that he had surgery on two days later.

The Minnesota Gophers legend was cleared around Oct. 29 and rejoined practice on Nov. 5. Hynes held him out of the Nov. 6-7 back-to-back and called his debut “a moving target.”

Faber now wears plastic ear guards on his helmet. He said Friday that the injury “could have been a lot worse” if he had been hit harder in that spot or hadn’t gotten the medical attention he did.

Last season, the 24-year-old from Maple Grove had 15 goals and 36 assists in 80 games and averaged 24:41 of ice time, second on the Wild behind Hughes. He’s in the second year of an eight-year, $68 million contract.