How Wild captain Jared Spurgeon is helping fill void left by Brock Faber: ‘Always a step ahead’

By Joe Smith

ST. PAUL, Minn — In the second period Saturday, David Pastrnak stripped Quinn Hughes of the puck deep in the Minnesota Wild zone.

The Boston Bruins’ two most dangerous players, Pastrnak and JJ Peterka, were within striking distance of goalie Jesper Wallstedt.

In slid Jared Spurgeon, who got just enough of a stick on Peterka’s shot to smother what would have been a high-danger chance. The Wild captain is far from flashy, but there’s a reason he’s done this for 16 years.

“He knows the reads in the back of his mind,” Wallstedt said. “He’s always a step ahead.”

The Wild still miss Brock Faber, who is out indefinitely after surgery on a fractured skull. They’re a much better team with him in the lineup. But Minnesota has found a blueprint to pick up the slack through two games, with just two goals allowed combined.

Wallstedt has been terrific, the No. 1 star in Saturday’s 4-1 home opener win over Boston. New addition Olli Maatta has come as advertised, smooth all over the ice in a pair with Jonas Brodin. The new-look penalty kill has been perfect.

But Spurgeon, 36, is an awfully nice security blanket to throw in the top pair with Quinn Hughes while Faber is out. Spurgeon, in the last year of his contract, has said he feels good after a couple of summers spent working out rather than rehabbing (he had hip and back surgeries in 2024). It shows.

“I think what we see now is (Spurgeon) feels great,” veteran winger Marcus Foligno told The Athletic. “I think he’s been battling through a lot of things in the past, and just being his buddy, I know that he’s feeling probably the best he’s ever felt right now. So knock on wood that he continues to do that.

“But then you do forget, like, yeah, you’ve got Jared Spurgeon, one of the smartest defensemen in the league, that sees a guy like Quinn and can adapt to anything.”

Hughes really helped unlock Faber’s offensive game last year. And while Spurgeon laughed when we asked him if Hughes might do the same for him — “I’ll just get him the puck,” he said — the captain did score a goal Saturday.

It was early in the third period after Hughes collected the puck in the Wild defensive zone. Spurgeon took it as a chance to activate and skate up the ice. Hughes passed the puck up the middle to Michael McCarron, who dropped it to Spurgeon. Spurgeon darted down the right side, waited for some traffic and then beat Michael DiPietro with a wrist shot.

“He’s been a really good player in the league a long time,” Hughes said. “Just the hockey sense, competes good defensively and good offensively. His reads are really good and he’s easy to play with. So we’re lucky we have Brock and him on the right side, and then (Zach Bogosian). It’s as good as it gets.”

Coach John Hynes said the Wild have played “connected,” which has helped them in the first two games without Faber. He mentioned the pair of Brodin and Maatta, and how well the penalty kill has done. But it helps that Hughes and Spurgeon have fit together.

“They’ve worked in tandem well together,” Hynes said. “They’re moving the puck. They’ve been defensively sound. … They’re a little bit different players, but I think (Spurgeon) brings some similar attributes that Faber does.”

Said Spurgeon: “I think just in general, the system that we play in, we have the freedom to jump up when we do. But obviously, you’re not going to replace a guy like Brock. He’s a special player with the way he skates and reads the game, and just the talents in general. The chemistry him and Quinn have is something special. But as a group, I think we’re just playing a good, solid game right now, and we continue to build that throughout the year.”

Spurgeon has said he believes he’ll want to play beyond this year, and would like to do it in Minnesota, where he’s spent his whole career. If the season goes well and Spurgeon feels good, it isn’t hard to picture the Wild bringing him back. It’s not just because it looks like Spurgeon has a lot of hockey left, but also because he’s helped shape the team’s culture.

“He’s been an awesome leader at competing and blocking shots and never giving up on plays,” Wallstedt said. “Obviously I love having him in front of me.”