The Minnesota Wild captain discussed the acquisition of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and how adding the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, voted as the best goalie in the NHL, will help the Wild's stretch run and securing a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"When your GM (general manager Bill Guerin) goes out and makes moves like that, it brings excitement to the group, the 32-year-old defenseman said. "... He was giving me some inside info on (Fleury) today, just keep a heads up around the locker room, I guess he's pretty active with some pranks and stuff like that."
Spurgeon said he envisions no issues with Fleury and Cam Talbot set to divide playing time in goal; Talbot played in the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game.
"I don't think so, just with how great people they both are, and great teammates, and obviously, Cam's having a great year, last game, pitching a shutout (in a 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday). Whenever you can have that combo, that's something that a lot of teams dream of having, so they're both great guys and as we go forward we'll see how it plays out, but ... it's a good problem to have."
With the Wild (37-20-4) tied with the Nashville Predators for third place in the Central Division, one point behind the second-place St. Louis Blues, Spurgeon gave his thoughts about what the rest of the regular season will look and feel like after adding Fleury, forwards Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyson Jost and defenseman Jake Middleton prior to the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline.
"The Central (Division) is so close, obviously every game's meaning so much right now with the points and division matchups, so ... getting better and just filling out our lineup is exciting. But there's still a lot of work left to be done and a lot of jostling for positions, whether it's home ice or just the playoff picture in general. It's so tight and every day it seems to be changing, so just for ourselves, it's worrying about affecting our game and the identity that we have ... we can only worry about ourselves."
Spurgeon also spoke about the mannerisms and intensity of coach Dean Evason.
"He has some good faces, that's for sure," he said. "He keeps it actually pretty cool, though. He gets intense but at the same time he can keep it under wraps pretty good."
Spurgeon also discussed his thoughts following the trade deadline, the skills of Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov and how he spends his time away from the rink.
"The Chirp with Daren Millard"
features interviews with players, executives, alumni and other personalities around the game. You can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #ChirpMallard.
