By Phillip Garrett -
In a game like hockey, where momentum, pressure, and emotions dictate the outcomes of games, a team's captain can often be the spark that pushes the team to new heights. Some teams have captains like Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby, whose offense can carry a team. However, the players you hear about the least often make the most impact.
That’s the case for Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon.
Spurgeon’s teammates give him accolades, but people outside the organization often overlook his impact. Spurgeon’s consistent defense and flashes of playmaking have never been more critical than now. I don’t need to reiterate that the Wild have struggled to score. So, with the postseason right around the corner, it is refreshing to see that the Wild’s 35-year-old captain has been scoring at an elevated rate.
Spurgeon has mostly stayed healthy this season, scoring seven goals and 32 points in 65 games. It’s encouraging to see the captain return to form this year after playing only 16 games in the 2023-24 season before undergoing season-ending back and hip surgery. It also became clear what the Wild look like without Spurgeon. He’s always been crucial to the Wild’s backchecking.
Stable defense
Since the beginning of 2023, Spurgeon has missed 82 games. In that time, the Wild have allowed 262 goals. However, in the last 82 games with Spurgeon, Minnesota has allowed 236 goals. Because the Wild have lost 380 of their 493 one-goal games since their founding, the 26-goal difference with Spurgeon on the ice could be the difference between making the playoffs or not. The puck goes in the net less with him around.
While Spurgeon may only be +7 this season, he has a respectable career plus/minus. He has been +30 three times and +124 three times. That ties Spurgeon for the 196th-best career plus/minus of all time, tied with 35-year-old defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
Experts argue over whether plus/minus is a reliable stat, with the consensus being that the quality of one's team heavily affects the player’s number. However, in Spurgeon’s case this year, he played most of the season without Kirill Kaprizov to pad his stats.
Spurgeon did this on a team with a -12 goal differential, the seventh-worst goal differential in franchise history.
His blocked shots also highlight his defensive prowess. Spurgeon’s 115 blocked shots are the second-most on the Wild. I’d say his willingness to put his body on the line after undergoing major surgeries might be what the rest of the team sees in him. Late in the season, he injured his throat by blocking a shot.
Consistent offense
Spurgeon's defensive capabilities have been the foundation of his success, but he’s consistently produced offense from the blue line. Spurgeon may not be Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar, but he’s tied for the sixth-most points on the Wild this season. That might not have been the case if Minnesota’s offensive core had stayed healthy this season. Still, Spurgeon stepped up when the Wild needed him most, the trait of a team captain.
Even though Wild fans see Spurgeon as a superstar, you likely won't hear about Spurgeon’s game on ESPN or the NHL Network. Still, the Wild aren’t the Wild without him. His consistency offensively and defensively stabilizes them on both sides of the ice. Though Spurgeon has had every excuse for his offensive production to slip, he didn’t take that as an option.
Since 2015, Spurgeon has achieved two 40-point seasons and has only failed to score fewer than 29 points twice: once in 2020 due to a shortened season and once in 2023 because of his surgeries. During the COVID-shortened season, Spurgeon played 54 games and scored 25 points, maintaining his usual production of roughly half a point per game.
In terms of points per 60 minutes this season, Spurgeon has maintained an average of 1.45, the third-best of his career. The last time he scored at a better rate was in the 2021-22 and 2017-18 seasons, when he scored 1.75 and 1.48, respectively. Throughout these three seasons, one constant has remained: Spurgeon stayed above 1.0 assists per 60 minutes, proving he is still a fantastic playmaker today.
Staying consistent offensively is difficult enough in the NHL. Still, for obvious reasons, it is even more difficult for a defenseman to make a difference on both ends of the ice. Add aging into the mix, and you start to realize why you see players retire in their mid-30s.
While I hope not to see Spurgeon retire anytime soon, the good thing is that he still has a lot left in his game. He may not spend his entire career in Minnesota because the Wild have more reasons to let him go than to stay. But in a season of ups and downs, Spurgeon has been a constant for the Wild, who still gives us glimpses of the player he was in his prime.
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