Jared Spurgeon is back in the mix for the Minnesota Wild.
The team activated its captain from injured reserve on Thursday, opening the door for him to return to the lineup that night against the Calgary Flames as Minnesota continued its road trip through Western Canada.
Spurgeon has missed four games after landing on IR with an upper-body injury on Sunday, retroactive to Oct. 12. That date lines up with the game in which he helped the Wild beat the Vegas Golden Knights.
Minnesota has managed to stay afloat without him, even if the results weren’t always clean. The Wild dropped a game to the surprising Winnipeg Jets, then bounced back with a win over the St.
Louis Blues seven days ago. After taking down the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, they spotted the Edmonton Oilers a 3-1 lead, fought back to earn a point, and then fell in overtime.
Through the first six games of the 2026-27 season, the 36-year-old defenseman had one goal and four assists for five points, which tied him for fifth on the team in assists. He also owned a plus/minus of +4 and was averaging 22:21 of ice time.
Availability has never been a given for Spurgeon over the course of his NHL career. In 17 seasons, only one has seen him suit up in every game, and that came in 2018-19. He played 79 games last season, two years after being limited to just 16.
Across 1.018 regular-season games, the Edmonton native has 124 goals and 319 assists for 443 points. He has added 31 points in 84 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Wild enter the night at 6-2-2, tied with the Utah Mammoth for first place in the Central Division.
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But Hughes has not agreed to terms yet, and the wait is starting to intersect with the broader extension landscape across the league. The Tampa Bay Lightning are still working through Nikita Kucherov talks, and those negotiations have been nudged by the changing market after the Leo Carlsson situation. For the Wild, the storyline is less about whether they are willing to step up and more about when, or if, the next move actually comes. [Read more 🡒]