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Wild ink key d-man Spurgeon to four-year, $20.75 million extension

Arizona Coyotes v Minnesota Wild

ST. PAUL, MN - OCTOBER 23: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild skates with the puck against the Arizona Coyotes during the game on October 23, 2014 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Last week, we passed along word that Minnesota had started contract talks with pending RFA d-man Jared Spurgeon.

Guess those talks moved fast.

On Monday, the Wild announced it had signed Spurgeon to a four-year, $20.75 million extension, one that carries an average annual cap hit of $5.18M per year.

That marks a pretty nice raise for the 26-year-old -- he’s making $2.66M annually on his current deal -- and makes him the Wild’s second highest-paid blueliner, behind Ryan Suter ($7.5M).

Yes, the money might seem high for those unfamiliar with Spurgeon’s game (especially since he’s now making more than Jonas Brodin).

But to those that watch on a regular basis, his value to the Wild blueline cannot be understated.

Aside from salary, Spurgeon sits second to Suter in a number of key statistical categories — including points (16) and TOI per game (22:16) — and is regarded as one of the club’s best skating and puck-moving d-men.

“How we want to play the game, how we execute, how we get up ice, the speed we want to play with, [Spurgeon] helps us get to that type of game,” coach Mike Yeo said recently, per the Star-Tribune.

Originally drafted -- but unsigned -- by the Islanders in 2008, Spurgeon caught on with Minnesota in 2010 and has been with the club ever since. He currently ranks third among defensemen in franchise history in goals (30), game-winning goals (eight) and power-play goals (15).