Minnesota Wild place defenseman Jared Spurgeon on injured reserve with undisclosed injury

Back to the press box for the captain for the Minnesota Wild.

On Wednesday, the team announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon is being placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

The Wild recalled Daemon Hunt from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

This is the third time that Spurgeon is going to be missing time due to injury. The 34-year-old missed the first 13 games this season due to an upper-body injury, having to sit out another seven last month after suffering a lower-body injury. Spurgeon played in the Wild’s last three games, picking up an assist in a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on New Year’s Eve.

With the move to IR, the 14-year blueliner will not be available until Minnesota’s matchup with the Dallas Stars on Jan. 10, at the earliest.

In just 16 games, Spurgeon has registered just five assists.

Spurgeon joins a long list of Wild players that are on the shelf. Currently, seven are on IR, including forward Kirill Kaprizov and goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Mats Zuccarello has been out of the lineup for almost two weeks, while Marcus Foligno is day-to-day as well.

Throughout the 2023-24 campaign, the Wild have 73 total man games lost.

This is Hunt’s third stint with the big club this season. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 27 against the Washington Capitals, potting his first assist on Dec. 18 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Brandon, Manitoba native has not played with Minnesota since getting sent back down to the AHL on Dec. 24.

The Wild’s next game will be against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, the last game of a three-game homestand. With a 16-16-4 record, they are seventh in the Central Division, 12 points back of the Dallas Stars for third place, but are only four back of the Arizona Coyotes for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.