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By Kalisha Turnipseed -
Due to his injury history, the Minnesota Wild might have to place captain Jared Spurgeon permanently on Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). Spurgeon's body has been taking a beating since November of 2021 with a combination of upper and lower body injuries.
The Wild placed Spurgeon on LTIR the previous year, allowing them to open up $7.575 million in cap space. Minnesota would miss Spurgeon's presence on the ice if they have to put him on LTIR, but doing so would allow it to improve its physical size.
The Wild have a few NHL-ready defensemen in Daemon Hunt and Zeev Buium, who will likely be on the opening night roster in 2025-26. Buium is a versatile defenseman who can play the right side of the ice. Minnesota can develop Buium on the right side until Jonas Brodin's contract is off the books, so Buium plays alongside Brock Faber. Jake Middleton can take the physical burden off of Buium, though. Middleton’s next contract will double his salary, so the Wild should be able to count on him to play the top-four minutes.
Hunt is a rising prospect who can become a better version of Nate Prosser. While Brodin and Middleton occupy top-four minutes, Hunt can play shutdown minutes on the third pair as a penalty killer. Hunt can play a reliable two-way game and suppress opposing offenses.
Declan Chisholm will either become Minnesota’s new 7th defenseman, or they’ll likely let him go. The Wild will already have four left-handed defensemen: Brodin, Middleton, Buium, and Hunt. They also need a succession plan for Zach Bogosian, 34, as a right-handed shot. Kyle Masters (6-foot, 177 lbs.) and David Spacek (6-foot, 174 lbs.) aren't exactly going to play a sandpaper game with physically imposing size.
The Wild would need to sign an unrestricted free agent (UFA) who can replace Bogosian's game next to Hunt, or maybe they could use Filip Gustavsson to trade for that player.
Minnesota wants to play with three goalies this year, with Marc Andre-Fleury mentoring Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt. They will unlikely keep all of them on the active roster, though. At some point, Gustavsson will become expendable.
You can argue that the Wild shouldn’t trade Gustavsson because Fleury will likely retire in 2025-26. However, they have Samuel Hlavaj in the system to develop into a backup goaltender, but he's still developing into an AHL goaltender.
What should the Wild prioritize? Keeping a goalie tandem of Gustavsson and Wallstedt for the future or trading for Bogosian's replacement, but with more upside?
To use a relevant example, in July 2021, the Chicago Blackhawks traded Brent Seabrook's contract to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Tyler Johnson and a 2023 second-round pick. Seabrook's contract was permanently on LTIR, which helped the Lightning stay under the cap.
The Montreal Canadiens traded Shea Weber, who hasn’t played since the 2021 playoffs due to many injuries, to the Vegas Golden Knights. In exchange, the Canadiens acquired left winger Evgenii Dadonov in June 2022.
Weber was 36 years old and four years away from the end of his 14-year, $110-million contract, which represents a $7.8-million cap hit. In February 2023, the Arizona Coyotes traded Weber's contract to the Golden Knights for Dysin Mayo to satisfy the salary cap minimum requirement. However, the Golden Knights could still use his contract to manage their salary cap situation.
Spurgeon deserves recognition for his work for the Wild. However, the Wild are ready to turn the page and invest in younger talent while getting bigger on the backend. Do they keep Spurgeon playing until his contract is off the books? Trade him? Or simply place him on permanent LTIR?
It’s a difficult but vital decision for one of the most important players in franchise history.
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