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Jared Spurgeon

Injury Notes: Nosek, Spurgeon, Toffoli

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Earlier today, the New Jersey Devils announced that the team has activated forward Tomas Nosek off of long-term injured reserve. After signing a one-year, $1MM contract with the Devils as an unrestricted free agent this past offseason, foot surgery has kept him out of the lineup since early November, limiting him to only six games on the season.

Nosek was originally brought in to be an effective fourth-line center option for the Devils, a title that has since been held by multiple different players. In his six games on the year, Nosek has gone scoreless while averaging a career-low in average time on ice.

With top forward Jack Hughes still out of the lineup, Nosek will not exactly fill in any void left by Hughes, but nonetheless fills a hole in the forward unit. For a team that has had very little stability down the middle of the ice at the bottom of the lineup, the return of Nosek will at least give them that moving forward.

Other injury notes:

  • On January 18th, it was announced that Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon would miss the rest of the 2023-24 season due to surgery on his back and his hip. Today, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Spurgeon underwent successful surgery on his back, and will undergo hip surgery in approximately a month. In a lost season for both player and team, Spurgeon will have finished with a career-low 16 games played for the Wild, only tallying five assists overall.
  • Back in New Jersey, before their game tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, Ryan Novozinsky of Star-Ledger reported that forward Tyler Toffoli would miss the action tonight due to illness. In his stead, depth forward Maxwell Willman will draw back into the lineup, lining up on the wing next to Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian against their Central Division-leading opponents.

Evening Snapshots: Wild, Capitals, Drysdale

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Earlier today, the Minnesota Wild announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon would be missing the rest of the season due to back and hip surgery, and Joe Smith of The Athletic speculates that the organization may use their newfound cap space to improve their situation. Only two days ago, General Manager Bill Guerin publicly stated that he is unwilling to give up on the 2023-24 season, and fully expects this team to compete for a playoff spot over the next couple of months.

If Minnesota is going to operate as a buyer come trade deadline time, there are a few options at defense they could look to acquire. Assuming the team looks for a right-handed defenseman to replace the lost minutes left by Spurgeon, they could become a dark horse contender for a defenseman such as Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames, or even look to acquire Tyson Barrie from their division rivals, the Nashville Predators.

In the next few weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the status of the Wild’s playoff chances should come into much clearer view for Guerin, which should help him steer the ship in a more concrete direction. Whatever the case may be, if Minnesota decides to make a major move to replace Spurgeon for the rest of the season, they will have approximately $5.1MM in cap flexibility to do so.

Other snapshots:

  • In tonight’s game for the Washington Capitals, they saw the return of their captain, Alex Ovechkin, who had missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, the team will be without a few players, as Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reported that defenseman Joel Edmundson would not play in tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, and forward Beck Malenstyn is out due to personal reasons.
  • Moving on to another team in the Metropolitan Division, even though Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported earlier that newly-acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale was not seen at practice today, he was able to draw into the lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers this evening. Suiting up for the team in two games, Drysdale came down with an illness shortly after arriving in Philadelphia and subsequently missed the next two contests for the team. Drawing back in the lineup against the Dallas Stars, Drysdale has already skated in over 14 minutes of the game and has put two shots on the net.

Jared Spurgeon To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery On Back And Hip

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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 January 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 Minnesota 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 5’9″ 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 have 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 $7.575MM 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.

Wild To Activate Jonas Brodin Off LTIR

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The Wild will activate defenseman Jonas Brodin off long-term injured reserve prior to tonight’s contest against the Islanders, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports. Brodin, 30, will play for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on December 8, ending a 17-game absence.

He is expected to return to his top-pairing role alongside rookie Brock Faber, a role he’s held in all of his 25 appearances this season. His return relieves the immense pressure to shoulder heavy minutes placed on depth defenders like Zach Bogosian and Alex Goligoski, who haven’t been up to the task. Without Brodin in the fold, the Wild went 8-8-1 with a -13 goal differential and now sit squarely in seventh place in the Central Division, five points behind the Blues and Coyotes. Their chances of making the playoffs are now down to 3.4%, per Hockey Reference.

Brodin continues to perform as a premier shutdown defender heading into his 30s. He had logged a goal and eight assists this season before exiting with injury, and his 23:59 average ice time is his highest mark in nine seasons and the second-highest of his career. The Swede has once again controlled the majority of scoring chances at even strength with a 53.6% Corsi share, and his pairing with Faber has controlled 57% of expected goals when on the ice together.

Minnesota remains without one other key piece on their blueline, however. That’s captain Jared Spurgeon, who has re-aggravated his lower-body injury sustained in December and has missed the Wild’s last six games. Russo added that Spurgeon is likely being moved to LTIR in order to free up the cap space to activate Brodin, which would rule him out until January 27 at the earliest, meaning he’ll miss at least six more games.

Brodin has four seasons remaining after this one at a $6MM cap hit. He’ll reach UFA status in 2028.

Injury Updates: Wild, Sabres, Lehkonen

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The Minnesota Wild have been dealing with an absolutely massive slate of injuries in their recent stretch of games, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the team. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today that the trio of core pillars for the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Gustavsson, and Jared Spurgeon are all “progressing and skating,” and thereby in their “next phase” toward full returns to the ice.

Adding Kaprizov, Spurgeon, and Gustavsson back to their roster would give the Wild their number-one winger, number-one defenseman, and number-one goalie back. The team has been strong under new head coach John Hynes, but in order for them to truly have a chance of keeping up in the Central Division that trio of players will need to return to the ice sooner rather than later.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • As reported by the Buffalo Times Herald’s Bill Hoppe, Buffalo Sabres wingers Victor Olofsson and Jordan Greenway are currently sick and out on a day-to-day timeline for the team. Olofsson was a healthy scratch for the team’s most recent game in favor of Eric Robinson, while Greenway skated on their third line alongside Zach Benson and Casey Mittelstadt. With captain Kyle Okposo now out week-to-week, the possibility both Greenway and Olofsson miss tomorrow’s game against the Seattle Kraken would mean the team could potentially need to recall a forward or two from the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
  • Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reports that forward Artturi Lehkonen is skating at Avalanche practice in a white jersey, meaning he has officially moved past the non-contact stage of his injury recovery. The 28-year-old Finnish winger had a breakout campaign last season when he scored at a 27-goal, 65-point 82-game pace and had scored eight points in 12 games this season before suffering his significant injury.

Wild Recall Daemon Hunt, Place Jared Spurgeon On IR

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The Minnesota Wild have placed captain Jared Spurgeon on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Spurgeon had only just returned from a lower-body injury that held him out for seven games in December, but now gets placed back on the shelf after three games back. Minnesota is turning to routine call-up Daemon Hunt to fill in while Spurgeon is out. Hunt has played in his first nine career NHL games this season, managing one assist as the only change to his stat line.

Spurgeon’s move to IR is almost poetically devastating for the Wild, who now have their top two forwards, top two defensemen, and their starting goalie on injured reserve – a status complete by Kirill Kaprizov and Spurgeon’s move to IR on Wednesday. The Wild has lost both of the games that they’ve played since losing Kaprizov and Filip Gustavsson in the same game, getting outscored six-to-three. Spurgeon, acting without Kaprizov, Gustavsson, and Jonas Brodin, played in 45 minutes over the last two games managing one assist, three shots, and an even 0 +/-.

This year marks Spurgeon’s 14th season in the NHL – an incredibly impressive mark for a former sixth round draft pick. Spurgeon has also served as the Wild’s captain since the retirement of legendary Wild leader Mikko Koivu in 2020. The 34-year-old defenseman has managed five points in 16 games this season, bringing his career totals up to 384 points in 867 NHL games. He’s played more than all but 10 players from the 2008 NHL Draft class, and could look to  11th among all players from the 2008 NHL Draft class.

Central Notes: Barrie, Barlow, Spurgeon

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The Nashville Predators announced today that defenseman Tyson Barrie has suffered an upper-body injury and is out on a day-to-day timeline. Barrie did not play in the team’s loss last night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

It’s been a difficult season for Barrie, who has not performed up to expectations under the new regime in Nashville. The Predators have reportedly given Barrie permission to seek a trade. Seeing as the 32-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, Barrie’s performance this season is of heightened long-term importance to the player, so it makes sense that he would look elsewhere for a more advantageous situation in order to enter the open market on the strongest footing possible. But before he can even consider that, he’ll now need to focus on getting back to full health.

Some other notes from the Central Division:

  • One of the Winnipeg Jets’ top prospects, Colby Barlow, is returning to the lineup of his OHL team the Owen Sound Attack. (News via Jets reporter Jamie Thomas) Barlow was selected 18th overall by the Jets at this past summer’s draft and is in the midst of a crucial development season with Owen Sound. He has not played since November 8th, but when healthy scored nine goals and 14 points in 14 games.
  • Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon has a “decent chance” of returning from injury to play in the team’s game Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. That would be a big add for the Wild, as Spurgeon has not played since December 10th. The Wild have fared well in his absence but they surely miss the heavy minutes he plays. If nothing else, his return could help lessen the workload placed on the shoulders of rookie Brock Faber, who has gotten close to 30 minutes in several games since Spurgeon got hurt.

Central Notes: Johnson, Dickinson, Wild

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According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, forward Tyler Johnson is the most recent injury to the Chicago Blackhawks roster, as he did not travel with the team to take on the St.Louis Blues. Johnson joins a growing list of high-priced members of the organization to go down with injury this season, as Seth Jones, Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou all currently find themselves on the team’s injured reserve.

In the final season of a seven-year, $35MM contract originally signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2017, Johnson was included in a salary dump move to Chicago, who also acquired a second-round draft selection in the deal, that sent Brent Seabrook’s contract back the other way. Having his time with the Blackhawks mired by injury concerns, Johnson has only suited up in 114 games for the franchise, scoring 22 goals and 50 points overall.

As Pope mentions in his reporting, with Johnson out tonight against the Blues, young forward Cole Guttman will draw back into the lineup for Chicago. In 14 games this year, Guttman has one goal and three points, only averaging a touch over 11 and a half minutes of ice time per night.

Other notes:

  • Sticking in Chicago, in an article today from Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCSN – Chicago, he mentions the growing trade value of Blackhawks’ forward Jason Dickinson leading up to the trade deadline. Being one of a handful of teams trying to stay above the salary cap floor, Chicago would have the ability to retain 50% ($1.325MM) of Dickinson’s contract, making him quite the bargain with 10 goals and 32 games this season.
  • Before their game tonight against the Boston Bruins, Michael Russo of The Athletic shared several injury updates surrounding certain members of the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately for the organization, they will still be without captain Jared Spurgeon, as well as forward Ryan Hartman. With plenty of issues plaguing the team this year, the inability to field a complete roster has led to plenty of inconsistency in Minnesota this season.

Evening Notes: Hartman, Blankenburg, Makar

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Ryan Hartman will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury. Hartman’s injury is a microcosm of the kind of season it has been for the Wild this year. The 29-year-old spent roughly two weeks toiling on the Wild’s fourth line, only to get moved up in the lineup where he scored goals in back-to-back games before falling to this latest injury.

The Wild are dealing with injuries to key players at the moment as defensemen Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon are out, as is forward Mats Zuccarello. Despite the injury troubles, the Wild have been playing solid hockey under new head coach John Hynes as the team is 8-3 since he took over being the bench after a shaky 5-10-4 start to the season under former head coach Dean Evason.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg isn’t playing tonight due to an upper-body injury. The Washington, Michigan native has dressed in six games this season for Columbus and has yet to register a point. He was recalled earlier this month after spending the first two months of the season with the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate and dressed in 36 games last season for Columbus, tallying four goals and ten assists.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have announced that defenseman Cale Makar will return to the lineup after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. The former Norris Trophy winner was considered a game-time decision but after taking warmup with the team it appears the decision was made for the 25-year-old to play against the Ottawa Senators. Makar has eight goals and 29 assists this season in just 27 games and will give a much-needed boost to the Avalanche team that has lost seven of their last 11 games.

Injury Updates: Rust, Spurgeon, Grzelcyk

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Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust has not played since the Penguins’ 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 6th, and in his absence, the Penguins have put together remarkably uneven performances. They’ve collected a few wins but an embarrassing 7-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs showed the cracks in the team’s foundation. Today, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relays word from Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, who said Rust skated today on an individual basis, the first time he’s been on the ice since he went down on injured reserve.

Rust’s return to the Penguins lineup would provide the team with a significant boost as it looks to climb in the Metropolitan Division playoff race. Rust has scored 10 goals and 20 points in 22 games this season and scored 20 goals and 46 points last season. Although Valtteri Puustinen has filled in nicely in the team’s top-six with four points in five games, getting Rust back would give the team a needed boost for its playoff chase.

Some more injury updates from around the NHL:

  • The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon was not present for the team’s morning skate, indicating that he will miss the team’s game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Spurgeon is among the Wild’s most important players, but in his absence Brock Faber has emerged as one of the fastest-rising young defensemen in hockey, playing as many as 30 minutes per night.
  • Independent Boston hockey reporter Joe Haggerty relayed word from Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery today, who said that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk is out day-to-day. Grzelcyck has not been ruled out for any of the Bruins’ games during their upcoming three-game road trip, although an absence is certainly possible.

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