TAMPA, Fla. – The Wild will play the rest of the season without their captain.
Jared Spurgeon will have left hip surgery on Feb. 6 and then back surgery approximately four weeks later to address wear-and-tear that the 34-year-old defenseman had been dealing with for months.
Spurgeon is expected to be ready before training camp starts in September.
"This has been nagging at him for some time," said President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin, who pegged the recovery period at four to five months and noted the surgeries weren't the result of a specific incident. "I think it's the right decision."
Without Spurgeon is also how the Wild started the season.
He missed the first 13 games after suffering an upper-body injury in the Wild's second-to-last preseason game and then sat out another seven games because of a lower-body injury before returning Dec. 30 at Winnipeg.
But Spurgeon logged just three games before he was sidelined again with the same issue after coming back too early. In 16 games overall, he finished with five assists. He is on long-term injured reserve, which frees up his $7.575 million salary-cap charge — flexibility the team could use to trade for a defenseman while Spurgeon heals.
"He tried. It just didn't work," Guerin said. "For his overall well-being, we can't continue to put him out there and he's more frustrated than anybody. He takes his role seriously and especially when we've been having a tough time, it's been weighing on Jared. That's why he's such a good captain and good guy, and teammates love him.
"It's unfortunate, but he has to do what's right for him, and we have to do what's right for him."
Earlier this week, the Wild blue line got a bit healthier when Jonas Brodin returned from a thumb injury that sidelined him 17 games.
Amid these absences, the Wild have relied on call-ups Dakota Mermis and Daemon Hunt, and the two were a pairing on Thursday vs. Tampa Bay for a second straight game; veterans Alex Goligoski and Jon Merrill remained scratched.
Also helping stabilize the Wild defense is rookie Brock Faber, who is averaging almost 25 minutes of ice time in Spurgeon's spot next to Jake Middleton on the top pairing.
"It's been an opportunity for us to see what Brock Faber is really all about, playing 25 to 30 minutes a night and playing on our first power play unit," Guerin said during his midseason address. "I don't think that ever would've happened if Spurg wasn't hurt. I'd take him healthy any day of the week, but silver lining we're learning what Brock Faber's all about.
"It's good stuff."
