West Notes: Spurgeon, Schwindt, Toropchenko

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.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

• Forecasting the Calgary Flames’ depth chart after the team underwent serious training camp roster cutdowns, The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie reports that there could be a new face handling fourth-line center duties for the Flames this fall. (subscription link) McKenzie writes that 22-year-old 2019 third-round pick Cole Schwindt “has that fourth-line centre spot by default,” as despite Schwindt not being “that impressive, or noticeable, at camp” he remains a preferred option for the role over Dryden Hunt and Walker Duehr, two natural wingers. It would be a major opportunity for Schwindt, who arrived in Calgary as part of the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk–Jonathan Huberdeau trade. He’s scored decently well in the AHL, (72 points in his last 142 games) which could give the Flames confidence that he will be able to hold down an NHL role.
• Lou Korac of NHL.com reports that St. Louis Blues winger Alexey Toropchenko is skating this morning at Blues training camp. Toropchenko left last night’s preseason contest against the Dallas Stars with a lower-body injury, prompting some worry that his availability for the start of the regular season might be impacted. While no official word has come in yet on Toropchenko’s status, the fact that he is back on the ice so quickly has to be seen as an encouraging sign.