Wild captain Jared Spurgeon placed on injured reserve

The Minnesota Wild have placed captain Jared Spurgeon on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Spurgeon had only just returned from a lower-body injury that held him out for seven games in December, but now gets placed back on the shelf after three games back. 

Minnesota is turning to routine call-up Daemon Hunt to fill in while Spurgeon is out. Hunt has played in his first nine career NHL games this season, managing one assist as the only change to his stat line.

Spurgeon’s move to IR is almost poetically devastating for the Wild, who now have their top two forwards, top two defensemen, and their starting goalie on injured reserve — a status complete by Kirill Kaprizov and Spurgeon’s move to IR on Wednesday. 

The Wild have lost both of the games that they’ve played since losing Kaprizov and Filip Gustavsson in the same game, getting outscored 6-3. Spurgeon, acting without Kaprizov, Gustavsson, and Jonas Brodin, played in 45 minutes over the last two games, managing one assist, three shots and an even 0 +/-.

This year marks Spurgeon’s 14th season in the NHL — an incredibly impressive mark for a former sixth-round draft pick. Spurgeon has also served as the Wild’s captain since the retirement of legendary Wild leader Mikko Koivu in 2020. 

The 34-year-old defenseman has managed five points in 16 games this season, bringing his career totals up to 384 points in 867 NHL games. He’s played more than all but 10 players from the 2008 NHL Draft class and could look to 11th among all players from the 2008 NHL Draft class.