Minnesota Wild: Just how underrated is Jared Spurgeon?

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ST. LOUIS, MO – NOVEMBER 3: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild and David Perron #57 of the St. Louis Blues battle for the puck at Enterprise Center on November 3, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Minnesota Wild have a wealth of top flight defenders at their disposal, and Jared Spurgeon is among the best. How does he compare to other top defensemen around the league?

Since Jared Spurgeon‘s debut with the Minnesota Wild in 2010-11, he has been a consistent fixture on the top pairing. The arrival of Ryan Suter in 2012-13 cemented that top pairing placement, and it was not relinquished until this season.

Jared Spurgeon may have taken on fewer minutes in his new role alongside Jonas Brodin, but his minutes have been some of the most difficult on the team. The head coach has often rolled out Spurgeon and Brodin to defend against opposing top lines, to which they perform exceptionally well.

So Jared Spurgeon is now #3 on the unofficial Minnesota Wild depth chart, but historically his numbers read better than a 2nd pairing defenseman. He gets minimal respect among fans outside of the ‘State of Hockey’, but the numbers suggest he should be more celebrated than he is.

Since the 2010-11 season, Jared Spurgeon has played in 528 games, all with the Minnesota Wild. In that time, he has produced 59 goals, 215 points, a +57 plus/minus, and only 82 total penalty Minutes. All of these numbers rank within the top 50 defensemen in the NHL in their respective categories. Some better than others.

ST. PAUL, MN – OCTOBER 25: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild takes a shot on goal during a game between the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center on October 25, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Wild defeated the Kings 4-1.(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Defensive responsibility trumps scoring

While Spurgeon is not on an elite scoring level, like peers such as Brent Burns or Erik Karlsson, his proficiency at being responsible defensively counterbalances his perceived shortcomings in the goal scoring department.

59 goals has Jared Spurgeon tied at 25th among all NHL defensemen since 2010, alongside Dion Phaneuf. He has more goals in that time than perceived top pairing defensemen Ryan McDonagh, Cam Fowler, and even recent Stanley Cup winner Matt Niskanen (all three of whom have played more games than Spurgeon).

He also leads all Minnesota Wild defensemen over that time frame, including defensive partner Ryan Suter. Mathew Dumba is closing this gap extremely fast, and has asserted why the kid with the new contract is the consensus top-pairing defenseman now.

At 215 points, Spurgeon is sitting all alone at #40 on the list of points by a defender. While the placement looks good on paper, #40 among 30 teams each having 2 players on a top pairing, it would look like it fits the billing.

However, when comparing the players on the point list around him it looks a little more disconcerting. Spurgeon is sitting around T.J. Brodie, Mark Streit, and Erik Johnson level points numbers. All are great defenders, but none in the elite category.

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Jared Spurgeon is a consistent point scorer, but again he falls short of the guys who make the top money putting points on the board. Comparatively speaking, since the arrival of Bruce Boudreau to the Minnesota Wild in 2016-17; Spurgeon has improved tremendously.

In just over 2 seasons under coach Boudreau, Spurgeon has produced 85 points from the blueline. Those numbers have him tied with Kevin Shattenkirk, and only 10 points shy of ‘superstars’ such as Rasmus Ristolainen, Mark Giordano, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson with less games played than all of them.

ST. PAUL, MN – OCTOBER 25: Jared Spurgeon (46) of the Minnesota Wild checks Tanner Pearson (70) of the Los Angeles Kings against the boards during the game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota Wild on October 25 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Minnesota Wild defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Plus-minus up there with top-tier names

Spurgeon’s +57 for plus/minus is good enough to sit alone at 28th among all NHL D-men since 2010. He ranks higher than elite level defenders like P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Shea Weber, John Carlson, and Marc Staal.

His defensive responsibility is a big part of his game, along with his speed, and it allows him to jump into the offensive rush without fear or hesitation. Spurgeon always believes his legs can cover for his aggressive play, and the majority of the time he is right.

The most surprising number among these, is Spurgeon’s lack of penalty minutes. 82 minutes over 8+ seasons. He is averaging less than 10 penalty minutes (or 5 minor penalties) per Minnesota Wild season. Among NHL defense with a minimum of 300 games played in the last 8 years, Spurgeon has the 5th fewest penalty minutes.

Comparing that with penalty minutes among all NHL players to play more than 300 games, Spurgeon ranks tied at 29th. Dissecting even further, among all NHL players to play a minimum of 500 games in the last 8 years, Jared Spurgeon is tied with Marcus Johansson for the 3rd fewest penalty minutes.

This tells me that no matter the situation, Spurgeon is always a defensively responsible player. He is in position most of the time, and in the situations where he gets caught on the chase his legs keep moving and he avoids taking bad penalties. Spurgeon will rarely put his team in a short-handed situation, which is something any coach will ask for of a top pairing defenseman.

WINNIPEG, MB – APRIL 20: Goaltender Alex Stalock #32, Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild and Paul Stastny #25 of the Winnipeg Jets keep an eye on the play during second period action in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on April 20, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Elite shot-blocking is Spurgeon’s calling card

Most importantly, is a stat that is much tougher to compare and quantify in the NHL. Spurgeon is a master shot blocker, and any Minnesota Wild fan knows that he will throw his body in front of any puck to stop it getting to his goaltender.

Spurgeon has accumulated 872 blocked shots through his time with the Minnesota Wild. I was unable to find a comprehensive list of blocks by NHL D, but a quick spot check on hockey-reference.com of the last 8 Norris Trophy winners found that he is on pace with some of the league’s best defenders in shots blocked.