ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild enter the 2025-26 season with a good problem on its hands. Who runs the top power play? In previous years, the Wild never really had a sure-fire number one type of defenseman who could run the top unit.
Now they enter the season with a lot of options.
Jared Spurgeon brings a veteran experience and is very calm under pressure. He has been one of the best defensive defensemen in the entire NHL for a long time. That type of play warrants trust from the coaching staff to not make mistakes when running the power play.
In 933 career NHL games, all with Minnesota, Spurgeon has recorded 34 goals, 98 assists and 134 points on the power play. He holds the franchise record for most power-play goals as a defensemen. He ranks second all-time in Wild history for most power-play goals on the ice for with 255. Mikko Koivu has the record at 376.
When Spurgeon got hurt in 2023-24 and missed 66 games, it was Brock Faber's power play to run. He recorded three goals, 13 assists and 16 points on the power play during his rookie season.
Last season Faber recorded two goals, eight assists and ten points on the power play. He started by running the unit and then the Wild went turned to Spurgeon who had one goal and nine points on the power play.
Then to finish the season the Wild went with five forwards on the top power play unit and had Matt Boldy run the point.
Come playoff time, the Wild gave rookie Zeev Buium a shot on the top unit. He recorded one assist in four playoff games against the Vegas Golden Knights and his only assist came on a Kirill Kaprizov power-play goal in 5-2 Game 3 win.
But the Wild gave Spurgeon a shot on running the top unit in the playoffs and then went back to the five-forward unit.
Entering the 2025-26 season, the Wild have three very reliable options to run the top power play unit. It could be either Spurgeon, Buium, Faber, the five-forward unit, or even David Jiricek.
Jiricek, 21, has played 59 career NHL games across parts of three seasons. He recorded one goal and one assist in six games with the Wild last year. When he was up with the team, Jiricek was running the second power play unit.
The Wild gave up defenseman Daemon Hunt, a first round pick in 2025, a third and a fourth round pick in 2026 and a second round pick in 2027 for Jiricek. He is an offensive defenseman and could get a chance running the power play for the Wild.
Nonetheless, the Wild have many options for the power play next season. It is a good problem to have.
Other Wild News
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