WINNIPEG – Less than a week into their schedule the Wild are without their captain and one of their best scorers.
They are on the road, and the schedule isn’t easing up.
Plus, they don’t have much wiggle room when it comes to the salary cap, so restocking their roster is a juggling act.
This was the adversity the Wild faced at the beginning of last season, and a year later they are in exact the same situation.
But just because the Wild didn’t pass that previous test doesn’t mean they are destined to fail again.
For starters, their health might not be as grim.
Last year, Jared Spurgeon was sidelined the first 13 games after a preseason shoulder injury before eventually getting shut down in January to address nagging hip and back issues with surgery. Currently, the defenseman has sat out just one game with a lower-body injury he sustained in the 5-4 shootout loss to Seattle on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center; Spurgeon is listed as day-to-day, and he’s still being evaluated.
“We’ll see what comes out of his results,” coach John Hynes said.