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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Already without a few key players, the Minnesota Wild will be without another, as they moved defenseman Jared Spurgeon to injured reserve Wednesday.
The move came hours after the Wild did the same with leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who has 13 goals and 34 points in 34 games this season.
The Wild didn’t disclose Spurgeon’s injury, though he has spent the season working through a lower-body injury. This will be the Wild’s third stint this season without their 34-year-old captain. Spurgeon missed all of October and returned in November. He then missed seven games in December before returning later in the month.
Spurgeon has scored five points in his 16-game, stop-start season while averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time.
In a corresponding move, the Wild called up defenseman Daemon Hunt from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
Spurgeon’s injury is the latest for the Wild, who are seeking to remain in the Western Conference wild-card race.
Besides Kaprizov and Spurgeon, the Wild are without Jonas Brodin, Filip Gustavsson, Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello. Brodin is second among Wild players in ice time, while Gustavsson leads the team with 10 wins. Foligno is ninth on the team in points, while Zuccarello is its leader in assists and second in points.
The Wild (16-16-4) entered Wednesday four points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the final wild-card spot as they seek to reach the playoffs for a fifth straight season. In November, they fired coach Dean Evason and hired former Nashville Predators coach John Hynes, who has since guided the Wild to 11 wins, the second most in the NHL during that time.