On Sunday, Vinnie Hinostroza will celebrate his fourth birthday at his family’s home outside Chicago. There’s a good chance that among his presents will be a new Minnesota Wild sweater.

Just 48 hours ago, his father — the elder Vinnie Hinostroza — was a member of the Predators and preparing for a trip to Milwaukee to play minor league hockey after being sent down by Nashville. All he needed to do was clear waivers on Wednesday morning.

By Thursday night, Hinostroza was a member of the Wild, wearing green, sporting sweater number 18, playing wing on the third line and becoming the eighth player in franchise history to score a goal in his Minnesota debut. It turned out to be the game-winner in a much-needed 2-1 victory over Carolina, which got the Wild out of a few frustrating funks.

“Coaching against him, you kind of know the player, and then obviously when we talked to management and the scouts and stuff yesterday, I thought tonight he played well,” Wild coach John Hynes said at the postgame podium. “Good speed, he’s tenacious on the puck, his abilities to make some plays and, you know, plays the game smart. He did a nice job.”

In a season-long search for some offensive contributions from the bottom two lines, the fact that Hinostroza could tip a Jared Spurgeon shot and have it end up in the net on one of his first dozen shifts was noted. And the every-night NHLers on his new team acknowledged the challenge of playing the role that players like Hinostroza fill, bouncing between the AHL and NHL, having to clear waivers and sometimes having to change towns and teams at a moment’s notice.

“In and out of hotels and away from family, it’s not an easy lifestyle. I give those guys a lot of credit,” said Marcus Foligno, who played left wing on the Wild’s third line Thursday, with Freddie Gaudreau at center and Hinostroza on the right side. “Mentally, that’s the biggest thing, right? You don’t know what tomorrow is gonna bring and it’s a tough, tough place to be in.

“But a lot of these guys that we have that are in those roles are unbelievable people, good character people that seem just to deal with it really well.”

Originally from Chicago, Hinostroza coming to the Wild to fill a gap created by Ryan Hartman’s impending suspension is strangely fitting, as the two were childhood friends and teammates.

From there, Hartman took the major junior route while Hinostroza ended up playing college hockey at Notre Dame on the way to a journeyman NHL career that has him suiting up this week for his seventh NHL team.

By the time the game’s final 2 minutes rolled around, when Carolina had its goalie pulled and a half-dozen offensive forces on the ice in a desperate attempt to tie the game, Hinostroza had already earned enough trust from Hynes that he was sent out on a defensive shift and helped close out the win.

“That felt really good. I think anytime the coach looks at you and tells you to go out there, especially when you’re up 2-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, that says a lot,” Hinostroza said.

“So, I’m happy to get those opportunities and try to take advantage of them.”

While suburban Chicago is vaguely in the Wild’s NHL neighborhood, the switch from Nashville to Minnesota happened so quickly that Hinostroza’s family didn’t have time to get to St. Paul for Thursday’s debut.

With the Predators visiting the Blackhawks on Friday night, Hinostroza was originally planning to be in Chicago to see family, then those plans went awry when the Wild plucked him off waivers.

But the hockey gods smiled on them a little bit, and what initially appeared to be a wrench in the party plans for Hinostroza’s eldest of three children is looking like it will work out after all.

“My son turns 4 on Sunday, so it’s gonna be awesome to go home. I haven’t seen them for a while,” Hinostroza said.

“So, we were actually gonna go yesterday to Chicago with Nashville, so my wife was telling my son I was gonna be coming, and he was pretty devastated. But a couple more days and I’ll get to see them. So, one more big game here and then get to enjoy that.”

Who knows, they might even make it to Minnesota to see Vinnie’s dad skate with his new team before too long.

The first chance would be tonight when the Wild host the New York Islanders. Afterward, they have a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament being held in Montreal and Boston.