Earlier today, we covered news that Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon had suffered an injury due to a hard hit from last night’s preseason game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, the Minnesota Wild have officially announced that Spurgeon has suffered an upper-body injury and will be out on a week-to-week basis. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that although Spurgeon is officially considered out week-to-week, Spurgeon’s injury is “not thought to be a long-term injury” and “he’s not expected to miss 10 games/24 days,” meaning long-term injured reserve won’t come into play.
While it’s certainly a relief that the Wild don’t expect Spurgeon to remain out on an extended basis, it’s a major blow for Minnesota to lose Spurgeon for any duration. He’s the captain of the Wild and someone relied upon to endure the most difficult matchups and most difficult minutes for head coach Dean Evason. Spurgeon averaged 21:49 time on ice per game last season, so in his absence the Wild are likely to rely even more on players such as Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton, and rookie Brock Faber.