Wild 2025-26 Report Cards: Jared Spurgeon

The Minnesota Wild were active during the first few days of free agency, which saw several signings as well as a trade that sent defenseman Jake Middleton, along with several future draft picks, to the Calgary Flames in exchange for forward Blake Coleman and defenseman Olli Määttä. That was the biggest news for the team so far, but obviously many are hoping there’s more to come, especially where Quinn Hughes is concerned. 

However, while everyone is focused on the future, it’s still time to look at the past and give out more grade reports for the past season. Most of the Wild’s defensemen have received their grades, but there are still a few unaccounted for. The most recent was given to Jonas Brodin, and next up is his partner, captain Jared Spurgeon. In this article, we’ll take a look at his regular-season performance and how he did in the postseason to come up with an overall grade. 

Spurgeon’s Quiet Regular Season

Jared Spurgeon has never been known for being flashy or loud, whether he was in the middle of a play or being the Wild’s captain in a meeting with the referees, and this past season was no different. He led his team with his quiet, calm demeanour but his stats were also fairly quiet. He typically doesn’t score a lot of goals, and that was the same as he tallied just six, but usually he can register a decent number of assists. Last season, that number was just 16 for a total of 22 points in 79 games played, compared to 25 assists in 66 games played the season before. 

His offensive side may have been quiet, but obviously Spurgeon’s number one priority is playing defense, which he excels at. He upped his physicality quite a bit this past season with 82 hits; he hadn’t thrown his weight around that much since the 2018-19 season, when he had 91 hits in 82 games played. However, the stat everyone wants to see when dealing with a defenseman is how many blocked shots they have. 

This past season, Spurgeon ranked second among Wild defensemen, right behind Brock Faber with 137 blocked shots. He’s routinely blocked over 100 shots per season, except for the ones when he faced significant injuries that hindered his play and his rookie season, of course. Spurgeon is captain and one of the Wild’s best defensemen for a reason; he’s good at what he does. 

It’s likely his career is starting to wind down, but he’s still a strong asset on the blue line for the Wild. Looking at his regular season, they could’ve used more offensively, but he stepped up defensively, which is where they needed him the most. He earned an A-; it wasn’t higher because of the lack of offense, but it wasn’t lower because of his efforts on the blue line, his increased hits, and he was able to play almost a full season, something he has struggled to do throughout his career. 

Spurgeon’s Equally Quiet Postseason

The Wild had success against the Dallas Stars in the postseason but struggled against the Colorado Avalanche. Spurgeon played in all 11 games of the Wild’s playoffs but only recorded a single assist for one point, and it came against the Stars. Over his career, he hasn’t registered a lot of points in the postseason, but his production did drop off a little compared to past seasons. However, once again, while his numbers dropped off offensively, he bounced back on defense. 

He kept up the physical side with 14 hits in 11 games and 22 blocked shots. Spurgeon wasn’t afraid to sacrifice his body with a hit or with a blocked shot, and luckily for him, he was able to stay rather healthy compared to seasons past. He’s not the biggest player, so when he delivers hits, there’s always a risk it could go wrong. 

“Yeah, I think honestly you see how hard it is. But I think you go through it, and like I said, you play a great series against Dallas at the start and obviously come up against another great team in Colorado. You just see how hard it is and the little things that you need to do to get to that next level. I think we’re close, but obviously, like I said, we’re not there yet, and we’re not the last ones standing,” Spurgeon said to the media during his end-of-season interview when asked about what was learned from the postseason loss. 

After looking over Spurgeon’s postseason, he earned the same grade as he did for the regular season, an A-. Of course, they could’ve used more out of him, especially on the offense side, but he delivered when they needed it defensively, same as before. Regardless, there’s always room for improvement, and he could do better. 

Spurgeon’s Overall Grade

Spurgeon had the same grade for the regular season and the postseason, so obviously his overall grade is the same; an A-. He represented his team well as their captain, and what he didn’t do offensively, he did defensively. He even stepped up with his physicality, which he hasn’t done a lot in the past. 

He also found a way to stay healthy, which is something that has routinely been a struggle for him. However, again it’s not an A because they could’ve used more from him offensively. It’ll be interesting to see what Spurgeon decides to do for the future of his career, but he has a year left on his contract, so there is time to decide. 

“I haven’t even thought about it at all. Honestly, you go through the year, and you just are focused on the end goal. I have one year left in the contract and just right now focused on going through the summer training, getting back, but that hasn’t crossed my mind,” said Spurgeon to the media in his end-of-season interview when asked about his future. 

Hopefully, the Wild get at least one more full season from their captain and a deep postseason. He’s been a strong leader for them and is likely helping shape their next, but it appears he still has some to give, especially for this coming season.