The offseason is starting to fly by as the second week of August has now come and gone. Training camps are barely a month away, and we are down to the second-to-last Minnesota Wild report card for the past season. It’s time to give the final two defensemen their grades for last season, and they are Jake Middleton and Jared Spurgeon.
Both of these players dealt with some brutal injuries throughout the season, like quite a few of their teammates did, but they found ways to persevere and come back. In this article, we’ll look at how they did through the regular season and the postseason to come up with a grade for both and then a grade for the season as a whole. We’ll start with Middleton and how he continues to exceed expectations.
Middleton Perserveres Through Season
Jake Middleton has impressed every season he’s been with the Wild, as his defensive game has found ways to improve. This past season was difficult because Middleton had a broken finger at one point and other minor injuries throughout the season, he had to battle back from. He played in 67 games and scored eight goals plus 13 assists for 21 points. His numbers were slightly lower than the season prior, but he also missed more time this past season due to injury.
He was able to contribute offensively, but defensively is where he shone. He had 99 hits, which was a respectable number, but his 157 blocked shots were more impressive and earned him the number one slot on the team. Like his teammates, he had a high number of giveaways at 64 and just 21 takeaways.
As for the postseason, he played in all six games and assisted on two goals for two points in those games, plus he had five shots on goal. Once again, his defensive numbers were better than his offensive numbers as he had 13 hits and 19 blocked shots, which led the team once again. Middleton never shied away from blocking shots, even though that’s how he broke his finger. He had six giveaways and one takeaway, which was better than the regular season but still needs improvement.
As for a grade, he earned an A for his regular-season contributions, even though his offensive numbers weren’t impressive; his defense was. His grade wasn’t an A+ because of his turnovers, but it wasn’t lower because of his contributions despite all the injury troubles he faced. For his postseason grade, he earned an A as well because of the same reasons as his regular season grade, so overall, he earned an A.
Spurgeon Bounces Back
Jared Spurgeon had an even bigger injury mountain to climb than his defensive partner, as he missed nearly all of the previous season recovering from both hip and back surgeries. He only played 16 games that season, but this past season he played in 66. He still had injury issues, but he was able to play most of the season. In those games, he scored seven goals and assisted on 25 more for 32 points.
As for his defensive game, he had 53 hits and 119 blocked shots, which put him right behind Middleton for most blocked shots on the team. He also had a higher number of turnovers with 52 and 22 takeaways, just like the rest of the team.
He played in all six games of the postseason and scored one goal for his lone point during the playoffs. Just like his defensive partner, his defensive stats were better than his offense. He had just four hits but 17 blocked shots again right behind Middleton. He had eight turnovers and zero takeaways.
Related: Q & A With Minnesota Wild Defenseman Jake Middleton
He earned an A for his regular-season grade as he’d bounced back from his injury issues to have a strong season in both offensive and defensive contributions. However, like his defensive partner, he didn’t have a higher grade because of his turnovers. As far as his postseason grade, he earned an A as well. He had a small offensive production, but his defense was enough for both, and his overall grade for the season was an A.
Middleton & Spurgeon Top Pairing
These two are the top pairing for a reason; they have the best defensive production, but also find ways to make it happen offensively as well. It’s hard to say how many more seasons Spurgeon has left, he’ll be 36 when the season starts and with his injury issues, it’s going to be harder to recover.
However, they have a bright future with Brock Faber, plus Middleton is learning from being paired with Spurgeon. The Wild have a strong defensive group that includes Jonas Brodin, and it’ll be interesting to see how they perform this coming season.
