The 31-year-old defenseman replaces forward Mikko Koivu, who was captain for 12 seasons. Koivu signed a one-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 10.
"It's a huge honor to me, I'm not going to take it lightly," Spurgeon said. "We want everyone to have a voice, whether you're 21 years old and play five games, to a veteran, and we're all going to bounce ideas off each other. But we have a lot of work to do to get to the goal that we all want."
Spurgeon, who signed a seven-year, $53.025 million contract extension (average annual value of $7.575 million) with the Wild on Sept. 14, 2019, scored 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 62 games last season.
"Jared is a guy that everybody in our locker room respects," general manager Bill Guerin said. "We know we can count on him. He's a person that everybody in our organization gravitate towards. And, we just feel how Jared's approached his career, signing a free agent contract and working his way up the lineup and becoming not just a solid player for our organization, but a standout player and standout human being. It's just the fitting role for him, and we couldn't be happier."
Entering his 11th season with Minnesota, Spurgeon is the longest-tenured played on the Wild. Selected by the New York Islanders in the sixth round (No. 156) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Spurgeon didn't sign with them and was signed as a free agent by Minnesota on Sept. 23, 2010.
"I was just working hard and trying to prove myself," Spurgeon said," and I still to this day try to do that every day, You come to the rink here, you're working to get better at something. I hope that it rubs off on the other guys that you always want to strive to be your best. It can be a workout in the gym that makes you better, or just a little extra shooting off to the side after practice. I think every day you have to come in and try and prove who you are and what you want to do for the team."
Spurgeon has scored 280 points (82 goals, 198 assists) in 653 regular-season games and 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 48 Stanley Cup Playoff games in his 10 NHL seasons, all for Minnesota. He ranks third in Wild history in games played, is eighth in points and their leader in goals by a defenseman.
"In hockey, there's one captain," Guerin said. "And going through everything, what Jared has done, what he stands for, and how he carries himself, it became clear that he was going to be the right choice."
Five NHL teams remain without a captain: the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Vegas Golden Knights.
NHL.com independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report
