[Signing] Wild re-sign Jared Spurgeon

[86Viking]

35 minutes ago, Baer. said:

Overpaid in those late years.

Yup, that is why I would rather go long term with Brock, EP and Quinn in future years. If we sign Brock to a shorter deal his next deal would command max years and be a high ticket player into his late 30s, not ideal likely not going to live up to the contract thru the end

[oldnews]

32 minutes ago, Baer. said:

I'd argue he has peaked and it's only down hill from here. 22 million invested in Spurgeon, Suter and Parise into their late 30s. Good players but you will never win a cup paying that money to those guys. 7 more years of minnesota mediocrity. Just good enough but never getting a lottery pick.

You can argue that you're from the future - but I'm not sure that's a very good argument.

 

What I would not argue with is Minnesota's mediocrity.

[oldnews]

34 minutes ago, Camel Toe Drag said:

No I’m judging solely based on the spelling of his name and that it rhymes with a bottom dwelling river fish.

I think most people can see his body of work. Over 7 mil is defs an overpayment. 

woosh... [that's the sound of a fish re-entering the water]

[JeremyCuddles]

7 years, 7.575mil per for a guy that'll be 30 in November? Makes the Myers contract much more palatable. Although I imagine media/fans will still say we grossly overpaid or something. Spurgeon had a good season last season and he eats minutes. So it won't be a terrible deal in the next 2-3 years. But those last 4-5 will be pretty sketchy.

 

On the bright side he doesn't have any trade protection, at least according to Capfriendly. But considering the cap is all straight salary and no bonuses. Meaning if they try cap dump him the team they would send him to would have to pay the entire 7.575 for each season he has remaining. But that's a bridge for another day assuming his game falls off like my pessimist mind thinks. 

[mll]

1 hour ago, DeNiro said:

I didn’t mean their record or stats merely the way they build their teams.

They were stuck in no man's land under Fletcher - good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to go deep.  He also traded so many draft picks.  They were missing game breakers.  Fenton believed Fiala is one and so does Poile but he's not there yet.   Kaprisov could be another - he should join at the end of the season once his contract is up.   Dumba is on his way to become one.   

 

All summer they've been saying that their success will depend on their young players taking the next step.  Boudreau shared his tentative lines for the season - they are giving increased roles to their young players.

 

For this season I think they are better than they are given credit for.  Their top-4 is really good and a healthy Dumba is going to give them a real boost.  Dubnyk needs to be better.  Parise and Zuccarello can still play.  Zucker has to rebound.  ErikssonEk has to push Koivu to C4.

 

Zucker Staal Fiala

Parise Donato Zuccarello

Greenway Koivu Kunin

Foligno ErikssonEk Hartman

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by mll

[KirkSave]

3 hours ago, oldnews said:

It doesn't hurt to look at the player's performance before judging their contract.

Agreed.

Spurgeon had a career year last year. But Seems to average b/w 25-35 points year in year out.

 

That being said, this cap hit for this d-man is absolute, undeniable overpayment.

 

*Tyson Barrie must be just beside himself with giddy anticipation for his next contract if this is what a $7 million d-man looks like.

 

But I guess Myers contract and stats are not that far off from Spurgeon's but he's at a better cap hit for 2 less years, and about a foot taller!

[Elias Pettersson]

This guy is the same size as little Johnny.  He'll be lucky to make it half way through his new contract.  People complain about Benning's contracts but other than Eriksson we don't have any big ticket contracts where guys are getting $7 million+ well into their mid to late 30's.  Minnesota has 4 of those contracts and Parise will turn 40 before he's even finished his. 

[Canuck Surfer]

4 hours ago, 5Fivehole0 said:

Yeesh. Good for Spurgeon. Would have guess closer to 6.5 per

 

4 hours ago, DeNiro said:

On a 4 year deal maybe.

Now, now.

 

Spurgeon has been a rock on D.  Added some offense to his game when Dumba was out.

 

He's been a top pair NHL D for going on 4 years now. The 1st name anyone should look at when pencilling out the prototype for how a small, speedy D can be effective as a defensive defenceman. D period! He gets all the toughest assignments.  Uses his lower power base, and he's a beast even if he's small, to outpower guys all the time in puck battles. Beats guys even more often to the puck. Does not have to deal with it? One of the most reliable guys at handling and distributing the puck up ice from his zone. Ellis in Nashville, Krug in Boston score more. But have nothing on him anywhere else, even if Ellis is good. Possibly top 3 small player in the league IMO, with Gaudreau & Point? Remarkable.

 

I'm not a fan of Minny.  But I am always amazed by this player.

 

Contract a bit high considering dollars are often only doled out for offense. Otherwise fine!

[5Fivehole0]

3 minutes ago, Canuck Surfer said:

 

Now, now.

 

Spurgeon has been a rock on D.  Added some offense to his game when Dumba was out.

 

He's been a top pair NHL D for going on 4 years now. The 1st name anyone should look at when pencilling out the prototype for how a small, speedy D can be effective as a defensive defenceman. D period! He gets all the toughest assignments.  Uses his lower power base, and he's a beast even if he's small, to outpower guys all the time in puck battles. Beats guys even more often to the puck. Does not have to deal with it? One of the most reliable guys at handling and distributing the puck up ice from his zone. Ellis in Nashville, Krug in Boston score more. But have nothing on him anywhere else, even if Ellis is good. Possibly top 3 small player in the league IMO, with Gaudreau & Point? Remarkable.

 

I'm not a fan of Minny.  But I am always amazed by this player.

 

Contract a bit high considering dollars are often only doled out for offense. Otherwise fine!

Im a Spurgeon fan, and always wanted a player like him on our squad, but I think this is a bad contract in the later years. Minnesota is stuck in a weird place where they can't rebuild and they can't compete. Contracts like this furthers this rhetoric.

[Canuck Surfer]

Just now, 5Fivehole0 said:

Im a Spurgeon fan, and always wanted a player like him on our squad, but I think this is a bad contract in the later years. Minnesota is stuck in a weird place where they can't rebuild and they can't compete. Contracts like this furthers this rhetoric.

I understand the criticism.

 

Its a lot of years for a 29 year old. If he starts getting knee or groin injuries it could be worrisome?  

 

His legs look pretty fantastic to me when I watch them play. He is the type of effortless skater, just as good on his turns, that I can see him having a long career. Nor do I see him absorbing big hits & punishment. He's hard to hit, solid on his skates with a low base when he does. See Giordano, a similar skater, puck handler. No I am not saying he will win the Norris in the last year of his deal. Continue to get better to that age. But I can see him aging well.

 

Minny also had no choice to an extent. Their depth sulks, and prospect pool for D not much better. Having Spurgeon commit to them?  Rather than slinking into a dead end pit is not all bad.  I am not a supporter of scorched earth rebuilds. They would have looked bad without him IMO.

[mll]

 

Spurgeon is a legit top pairing D.  He plays in any situation and goes up against every teams best lines.  

 

Boudreau last week was asked who is his favourite player on the team and answered that for him Spurgeon is the perfect athlete.  He talked of how he just protects any D he plays with.

 

Boudreau was very skeptical of Spurgeon when he took the job but changed his mind quickly and talked of how he plays so much bigger than his size and how incredibly smart he is.  He says Spurgeon doesn't play with a lot of fanfare but he never puts himself in a position to be in a bad position.  He called him a Suter on the right side.  

 

Over the past 5 season in over 360 games and 8'500 minutes he has only had 34 minor penalties - it's all smart positioning where he doesn't need to hook or grab to defend.

 

From Custance ahead of the draft when there were rumours that he could be available despite Fenton saying their priority was to extend him: 

 

“Spurgeon is the guy we need,” said one executive from a team looking to add defense this summer. “I’m a big fan. A huge fan,” said an NHL scout. Said another executive: “I don’t know how you’d replace him. That doesn’t make sense to me. He’s terrific for them.”

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by mll

[IBatch]

Myers is looking pretty good right about now.  Same with Edler.  He’s a blue chip guy no doubt - and those guys can have their best seasons in their early 30’s although it’s not always like that either (see Phanuef and Gio)..

 

Too long, a five year deal would have been fair at this price. 

[Elias Pettersson]

2 hours ago, Canuck Surfer said:

 

Now, now.

 

Spurgeon has been a rock on D.  Added some offense to his game when Dumba was out.

 

He's been a top pair NHL D for going on 4 years now. The 1st name anyone should look at when pencilling out the prototype for how a small, speedy D can be effective as a defensive defenceman. D period! He gets all the toughest assignments.  Uses his lower power base, and he's a beast even if he's small, to outpower guys all the time in puck battles. Beats guys even more often to the puck. Does not have to deal with it? One of the most reliable guys at handling and distributing the puck up ice from his zone. Ellis in Nashville, Krug in Boston score more. But have nothing on him anywhere else, even if Ellis is good. Possibly top 3 small player in the league IMO, with Gaudreau & Point? Remarkable.

 

I'm not a fan of Minny.  But I am always amazed by this player.

 

Contract a bit high considering dollars are often only doled out for offense. Otherwise fine!

You don't win in the NHL playoffs with guys as small as little Johnny.  Look what happened to Calgary and Tampa.  Lost in the first round.  Minnesota didn't even make the playoffs but apparently their top 4 D is one of the best in the league.  That doesn't make any sense.  How can you be a bottom feeder team and have one of the best defenses in the NHL? 

 

St. Louis on the other hand has giants on the backend and won the Cup.  This is a big man's game now.  You can have some guys that are small on your team but when they are your core players like little Johnny, Point and Spurgeon you are going nowhere in the playoffs.

 

Spurgeon at $7.5 million is crazy money.  Parayko at $5.5 million is one of the best contracts in the entire NHL...

Edited September 15, 2019 by Elias Pettersson

[Canuck Surfer]

8 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

You don't win in the NHL playoffs with guys as small as little Johnny.  Look what happened to Calgary and Tampa.  Lost in the first round.  Minnesota didn't even make the playoffs but apparently their top 4 D is one of the best in the league.  That doesn't make any sense.  How can you be a bottom feeder team and have one of the best defenses in the NHL? 

 

St. Louis on the other hand has giants on the backend and won the Cup.  This is a big man's game now.  You can have some guys that are small on your team but when they are your core players like little Johnny, Point and Spurgeon you are going nowhere in the playoffs.

 

Spurgeon at $7.5 million is crazy money.  Parayko at $5.5 million is one of the best contracts in the entire NHL...

That's your opinion.

 

Boston won with Krug.

 

Spurgeon is better than Krug in almost all regards, in all facets. Except a point shot or running a PP.  Needs less sheltering, which good teams can do anyway. So I dont think much of that opinion, thanks. St Louis won with Vince Dunn.  Admittedly, they had big bodies.  But the entire NHL has a phenomena you are missing.  Almost every good team has at least one fleet, highly skilled guy that opposition cannot fore check, cannot guard.  And are spending less time in their own end.  I'd rather Spurgeon than Gudbrandson, any day.  Just being big is done! 

 

Lets also be fair?  Minny is a long way, and needs much better depth and firepower before that's a discussion. On their way down, not up ATM.

[Coconuts]

He's a great player right now but we'll see what the cap world looks like in a few years 

 

Don't think this will age well but who knows 

[Elias Pettersson]

37 minutes ago, Canuck Surfer said:

That's your opinion.

 

Boston won with Krug.

 

Spurgeon is better than Krug in almost all regards, in all facets. Except a point shot or running a PP.  Needs less sheltering, which good teams can do anyway. So I dont think much of that opinion, thanks. St Louis won with Vince Dunn.  Admittedly, they had big bodies.  But the entire NHL has a phenomena you are missing.  Almost every good team has at least one fleet, highly skilled guy that opposition cannot fore check, cannot guard.  And are spending less time in their own end.  I'd rather Spurgeon than Gudbrandson, any day.  Just being big is done! 

 

Lets also be fair?  Minny is a long way, and needs much better depth and firepower before that's a discussion. On their way down, not up ATM.

Actually Boston won with Chara not Krug.  Without Chara there are no Cups in Boston.  Also Krug can rack up 50 points a year and run a power play so he's a perfect compliment to a Chara.  Spurgeon can't do that, he needs to play with a Krug but then you have two small guys on the ice at the same time.  These small players cannot be the focal point of your defence unless they are offensive dynamos who can be sheltered with bigger players.  Paying Spurgeon Chara or Hedman money is crazy.  Not worth it in my opinion.  You can certainly have some smaller players on your team but they cannot be the focal point and the big money earners unless they are generational talents.  

 

And yes Minny is a mediocre team going nowhere so it doesn't really matter.  Their top players are past their prime and so I don't see them as a playoff team anytime soon...

Edited September 15, 2019 by Elias Pettersson

[Devron]

The sign of a team that won’t except a rebuild. I was looking at their cap friendly and wow these guys are hooped for the next 5 plus years. 

[grandmaster]

1 minute ago, Devron44 said:

The sign of a team that won’t except a rebuild. I was looking at their cap friendly and wow these guys are hooped for the next 5 plus years. 

Accept. 

 

Also, rebuild is over in case you didn’t figure that out. Time to compete. Hence all the FA signings.

 

Stop being one of those tank fans. That time is done. Get over it. 

[Devron]

Just now, grandmaster said:

Accept. 

 

Also, rebuild is over in case you didn’t figure that out. Time to compete. Hence all the FA signings.

 

Stop being one of those tank fans. That time is done. Get over it. 

Huh? For one I’m not a tank fan and two it was a spelling error. Not sure why you’d have to point that out other than to be a jerk. 

 

And what rebuild are you talking about? They’ve been trying to compete, sign, trade for players for years now.

[grandmaster]

9 minutes ago, Devron44 said:

Huh? For one I’m not a tank fan and two it was a spelling error. Not sure why you’d have to point that out other than to be a jerk. 

 

And what rebuild are you talking about? They’ve been trying to compete, sign, trade for players for years now.

Grammatical error, lol! Sorry just in a mood now. 

 

If you look at the last couple years they had a ton of cap space they never filled up. They are using every dollar this year, hence, the compete phase.