Wild captain Jared Spurgeon to undergo season-ending hip and back surgery

Spurgeon will undergo left hip surgery on Feb. 6 and will have back surgery approximately four weeks later, according to a Wild press release.

“Spurgeon is expected to be fully recovered before the start of training camp in September,” said the Wild press release.

With Spurgeon on long-term injured reserve, the Wild can exceed the cap by roughly $7.575 million, Spurgeon’s annual salary, minus their AHL call-ups. Russo is also reporting that, now with extra cap space, Wild general manager Bill Guerin is now in the market for a pending unrestricted free agent defenseman.

The 34-year-old defenseman only played 16 games with the Wild this season, recording five assists, and he last played on Jan. 2 against the Calgary Flames.

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Wild, Spurgeon has spent his entire career with the organization. Through 14 seasons, Spurgeon has 110 goals and 274 assists for 384 points in 867 career NHL games.

The Wild are 18-20-5 with 41 points through 43 games and are seventh in the Western Conference’s Central Division. Minnesota is 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. After beating the New York Islanders 5-0 last Monday, the Wild travel south for a three-game road trip, starting Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Friday against the Florida Panthers and wrapping up with a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.