Minnesota Wild captain to undergo season-ending surgery on back and hip

The Minnesota Wild have announced that team captain Jared Spurgeon is set to miss the remainder of the season after surgery on his back and hip. Spurgeon has been limited for much of the season, playing in just 16 games this year. He hasn’t played since Jan. 2nd, though, as he’s continuing to struggle with lower-body injuries. This includes an injury suffered in the preseason that forced him to miss the month of October and parts of November.

It’s been a disastrous season for the 34-year-old pro, now in his 14th season with the Wild. Spurgeon has managed just five points this year, but recorded an admirable 11 goals and 34 points in 79 games last season. Still, injuries have been consistent in his recent seasons, with the defender failing to appear in 70 or more games in five of his last seven seasons, including this year.

Spurgeon has become a prolific NHLer despite the injuries. He has appeared in more games than any other defenseman in Wild history, with his 867 career games far ahead of second-place Ryan Suter’s 656 games with the team. In fact, only one player has appeared in more games for the Wild – former long-term captain Mikko Koivu, who played all 1,028 games of his career in Minnesota. Spurgeon also ranks fourth in all-time scoring for the club, behind only Koivu, Marian Gaborik and Zach Parise.

The 5-foot-9 Spurgeon has come a long way since being drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Draft – the same round that saw Cam Atkinson join the Columbus Blue Jackets. Together, the duo paved a path for “undersized” players in the NHL, proving just how impactful they can be with the right energy and grit.

It’s safe to assume that Spurgeon’s absence will lead to more minutes for depth defensemen like Dakota Mermis and Daemon Hunt. The Wild will also now be relieved from Spurgeon’s $7.575M cap hit for the remainder of the year. Whether their depth pieces, or potential acquisitions, will be able to fill in for the team’s top defenseman now becomes an important question to Minnesota’s success for the rest of the season. The Wild currently rank seventh in the Central Division with an 18-20-5 record.