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WASHINGTON — The Minnesota Wild’s captain, Jared Spurgeon, is anticipated to be sidelined for two to three weeks due to a right leg injury sustained after being slew-footed earlier this week by Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux, who received a three-game suspension as a result of the incident.
General manager Bill Guerin referred to Spurgeon’s status as “week to week,” offering little detail regarding the nature of the injury, other than confirming that no surgery will be required. “It’s not as bad as we originally thought,” Guerin commented on Thursday, prior to the Wild’s matchup against the Washington Capitals. “It’s still bad enough because he’s not in our lineup… and, obviously, that’s not great for our team.”
The injury occurred when Spurgeon’s right leg twisted unnaturally during a collision with the boards after his skates were knocked out from under him and he was pushed backward by L’Heureux early in the second period of Tuesday’s game. L’Heureux was subsequently ejected with a match penalty and will lose $13,490 in salary due to his suspension imposed after a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
Guerin expressed his displeasure with the play that led to Spurgeon’s injury. While this marks L’Heureux’s first suspension in the NHL, he has been involved in multiple incidents at the junior level, as well as in the American Hockey League, though this prior record was not taken into consideration during the disciplinary decision. “That’s not for me to answer that,” Guerin stated. “That’s a question for the league. The league has their process, and they handled it. We live with that. In the end, it doesn’t get our player back. That’s what makes me lose sleep at night is they get their player back in three games. Ours is out two to three weeks.”
The Wild are also navigating the absence of defenseman Jake Middleton, who has been out for nearly a month due to a hand injury caused by a puck. Their leading scorer, Kirill Kaprizov, is classified as day to day with a lower-body injury. Middleton may return to the lineup as soon as the following week, while the team is being cautious with Kaprizov, who is an MVP contender and had recorded 23 goals and 50 points prior to Thursday’s games. “We don’t want him to come back and push through,” Guerin emphasized. “He could, but it could make something worse. We need him for the long haul. We don’t just need him for a couple games in January.”
Spurgeon is dealing with yet another significant absence, following hip and back surgeries that limited him to only 16 games last season. “It’s unfortunate because it’s something obviously you think would be preventable, but it is the game, so you get hurt,” head coach John Hynes remarked. “Spurgy’s a mentally tough guy. He’ll make sure that he’s ready to get back as soon as he can.”
At 35 years old, Spurgeon was performing well prior to this setback, accumulating four goals and nine assists for a total of 13 points while averaging nearly 21 minutes of ice time. Teammate and defenseman Brock Faber expressed his sentiments, stating, “It’s brutal. He’s going to come back from it stronger than ever. That’s how he is. That’s what he does. There’s no doubt in our minds that he’s going to get through this thing.”
Hynes and the coaching staff advised against their defensemen, including Faber and Jonas Brodin, taking on excessive responsibilities in Spurgeon’s absence. “Those guys just have to continue to do what they do,” Hynes commented. “Spurgy’s not with us, but no one’s going to replace him, so everyone has to play their role. Brodin and Faber don’t have to do anything different because Spurgeon’s out. They still play huge minutes. They still play important situations. They’ve just got to do their job.”
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