The choices were pretty obvious as to who was to be Mikko Koivu's successor as Wild captain. It was either going to be one of the two long time alternate captain, Zach Parise or Ryan Suter, or the highest paid and longest tenured Wild defenseman, Jared Spurgeon.
Spurgeon win out in the end and he is quite deserving of the honor. Spurgeon becomes just the second full time captain in Wild team history. Jared has long been one of the most under-rated players in the NHL, and today he gets his due.
The fact that Spurgeon is going to be here longer than both Parise and Suter, at least by contract length, played into the decision. I believe that the choice was really between Parise and Spurgeon and the fact that Parise was nearly dealt at last year's trade deadline may have factored against Zach.
Some thought that Marcus Foligno, may get some consideration but with his contract expiring there was really never much of a chance of that. Even if the Wild extend Foligno they absolutely did not want to give his that bargaining chip.
Either way it is time that this group moves forward with Spurg as the leader. It is a new group of players with a some new young talent here and on the horizon.
Less than two weeks...