Minnesota Wild place captain Jared Spurgeon long-term injured reserve

The leader of the Minnesota Wild is going to be out even longer than many expected.

On Monday, the team announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon is being placed on long-term injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

This comes just hours after the Wild activated Jonas Brodin to the main roster, with the anticipation that he will play Monday night against the New York Islanders.

It is not known when or where Spurgeon was injured, but the move to LTIR gives the Wild some room to reinsert Brodin back into the lineup. With Spurgeon’s $7.575 million cap hit comes off the books, Minnesota now has just $40,006 of cap space.

It has been a rough season for the Wild’s captain. It is the third time the 34-year-old has missed an extended period of time. After missing the first 13 games with an upper-body injury, in which he was placed on LTIR, Spurgeon was out for seven games in December with a lower-body injury. He ended up playing just three games, picking up an assist against the Winnipeg Jets on New Year’s Eve, before going back on the shelf.

Spurgeon last played on Jan. 2, when Minnesota lost, 3-1, to the Calgary Flames, having missed 26 games this season. In his 16 appearances, the 14-year veteran has notched five assists.

Spurgeon is in the fourth year of an eight-year contract extension he signed in Sept. 2019. In 867 career games, the Edmonton native has scored 110 goals and 274 assists, registering another 29 points in 67 playoff games.

The Wild have been bit by the injury bug harder than almost any other team this season. As of Monday, they have 110 man games lost.

Minnesota (17-20-5) is currently seventh in the Central Division, 13 points ahead of the last place Chicago Blackhawks, and are eight points back of the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.