Jared Spurgeon Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Spurgeon spent his first seven NHL seasons firmly in the shadows of veteran Ryan Suter, but the 28-year-old is quickly becoming one of Bruce Boudreau's most trusted bodies. Spurgeon is averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice-time per game this season and has grabbed the reigns as the quarterback of Minnesota's top power-play unit. He sits just one point shy of tying his career best of 38 points and really turned up his production lately; posting two goals and five assists over the last seven games. With the Edmonton Oilers owning an abysmal (and NHL worst) 74.0% penalty kill, Spurgeon is sealed in as a fine option on the blueline this evening.

As much as I like the Vegas Golden Knights offense tonight, I prefer the upside of the Minnesota Wild defensemen. The New York Rangers are a defensive mess right now (ranking 29th overall in CA/60, HDCA/60 and SCA/60), and they have given up on the season, which should allow the Wild to dominate this hockey game, putting all three of Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and Mathew Dumba in a prime position. Suter sees an insane amount of minutes on a nightly basis (averaging just under 27 minutes of ice time per game), and he is the safest option for cash games. With that being said, Spurgeon has the higher ceiling, and with Dumba seeing a major increase in ice time and power play duties, he may be the best bang for your buck.

The Ottawa Senators are one of the National Hockey Leagues worst defensive teams, and they are definitely a team worth picking on tonight. On the season, the Senators rank 29th overall in CA/60, 20th in HDCA/60 and 25th in CA/60, resulting in them allowing the third-most goals against per game. The only problem with targeting the Wilds offense, is that they have three very capable scoring lines, so it can be difficult predicting where their scoring will come from, which means that focusing on stud defensemen Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon may be the way to go when targeting the Wild offense this evening. Suter and Spurgeon log a ton of ice time at both even strength and on Minnesotas top power play unit, and they both have multi-point potential tonight at the Xcel Energy Center.

Ryan Spurgeon is in a fantastic spot today and he produces numbers across the board. Not only does have five goals and 23 points in 36 games, he averages 1.92 shots per game and 2.42 blocks per game. Producing peripheral numbers in the shot and block categories gives Spurgeon a solid floor with offensive upside making for a great tournament play. Jacob Markstrom is expected to be between the pipes for the Vancouver Canucks tonight and he has struggled this season. He has a 2.75 goals against average and a .908 save percentage which should help Spurgeon to get on the scoresheet.

Suter and Spurgeon are mostly interchangable at this point, as each eat up minutes every night and see a healthy dose of power play time. Their prices are flip-flopped on FD and DK, so it comes down to a few extra hundred bucks and preference. Though the Jets defense is strong at 5v5 and the Wild offense leaves plenty to be desired, the Wild get one of the better special teams matchups tonight. The Jets penalty kill remains a struggling unit at suppressing shot attempts and scoring chances, and Winnipeg has never had a problem playing aggressively and taking penalties. Though the Wild may not get the pleasure of facing Steve Mason tonight, the Jets are playing back-to-back while the Wild are rested, so perhaps an additional penalty or two gets called. As both Suter and Spurgeon play a majority of the open time on the blueline while Minnesota is on the power play, each has solid upside tonight.

The Minnesota Wild have the highest projected goal total on the slate tonight, however, with three capable scoring lines, predicting where the offense will come from can be difficult, so perhaps the best way to get exposure to the Wilds offense is through their defense. Ryan Suter plays in all situations, logging heavy minutes (averaging 27:04 minutes of ice time per game), and he is likely the safest option of the two for your cash game lineup. With that being said, you could argue that Jared Spurgeon has the higher ceiling, and he has been hot of late (five points in his last three games), making him the better option in large field tournaments.

Jared Spurgeon is an underrated defenseman who has collected 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) in 13 games. Spurgeon shoots the puck and blocks shots with the best of them. He is averaging more than two shots on goal per game while blocking close to two shots per game as well. Over the years, the Leafs have had issues with defensemen. With a struggling Frederik Andersen in net, Minnesota could be in for a big game. Spurgeon also plays on the team’s top power play unit which is finally getting healthy with the return of Nino Niederreiter. Spurgeon does not need to hit the scoresheet to hit value, but it would be a nice bonus.

As I write this piece, the Minnesota Wild are the biggest favorite on the board and even though they are banged up, they should still be able to score a few goals this evening in this plus matchup on home ice. The Wild currently have the National Hockey Leagues number one ranked power play, and Jared Spurgeon continues to see time on the number one unit. Spurgeon is averaging over 24 minutes of ice time per game and he remains underpriced across the industry. Considering his price and matchup, Spurgeon becomes one of the top point-per-dollar plays on defense tonight.

With the Winnipeg Jets lousy defensive zone coverage and their inability to stay out of the penalty box (or kill off those penalties), they become a team we can attack on nightly basis. So far this season, Winnipeg is a bottom-seven team in CA/60 and GA/60, while carrying the 28th ranked penalty kill. The Minnesota Wild should have a few power play opportunities this evening and this puts the reasonably priced Jared Spurgeon on our radar in all formats. Spurgeon has now registered points in three straight contests, and I think we see him hit the score sheet once again this evening in this very favorable matchup.