WASHINGTON, D.C. — Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin paused, then chose his words very carefully when asked his opinion on the play that injured team captain Jared Spurgeon on New Year’s Eve. After some consideration, Guerin offered a two-word opinion.

“Not happy,” was all he said while meeting with reporters before Thursday’s game versus the Capitals to offer an update on his veteran defenseman.

The good news is that Spurgeon’s lower body injury is not as serious as it could have been, and the 35-year-old will play again this season — maybe even later this month. Guerin didn’t offer specifics but hinted that they are looking at a two- or three-week window before Spurgeon could return to the lineup.

After back, shoulder and hip injuries limited Spurgeon to just 16 games all of last season, that is decidedly good news.

“It’s not as bad as we originally thought,” Guerin said. “It’s still bad enough, because he’s not in our lineup, so he’s going to be week to week. And obviously, that’s not great for our team.”

Earlier Thursday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety handed a three-game suspension to Nashville rookie forward Zach L’Heureux, who ran Spurgeon into the end boards from behind in the Wild’s 5-3 win on Dec. 31. It was the first NHL suspension for L’Heureux but the 12th of his career as the Montreal native was punished for dirty and dangerous play nine times in junior hockey and twice in the minor leagues.

Asked if the punishment fit the crime, Guerin again chose his words with care.

“That’s not for me to answer that. That’s a question for the league. The league has their process, and they handled it. We live with that,” he said. “In the end, it doesn’t get our player back. That’s what makes me lose sleep at night is they get their player back in three games. Ours is out two to three weeks.”

The Wild recalled defenseman Carson Lambos from Iowa for the two-game trip to Washington and Carolina. While Lambos did not play against the Capitals, Guerin said it was the right time for the rookie to possibly make his NHL debut.

Asked about defenseman David Jiricek, acquired from Columbus in a trade earlier this season, Guerin said he felt it was more important to have him getting minutes in Iowa instead of potentially sitting with the NHL club.

“We don’t know who’s going to get in the lineup. We don’t know, and I feel it’s more important that David just continues to play a lot of hockey and play big minutes,” Guerin said. “And he’s playing very well. We just want to continue that and we don’t want to interrupt the flow and have him sit in the stands for a game, maybe two.

“If we’re bringing (Jiricek) up, we want to bring him up and set him up for success.”

The GM added that Kirill Kaprizov remains day to day with a lower body injury but said the star wing has not skated since scoring his team-leading 23rd goal in a victory over Chicago on Dec. 23.

Defenseman Jake Middleton, who has missed the past 10 games with a hand injury, is skating and shooting, Guerin said, and could return as soon as the Wild’s Jan. 7 home game with St. Louis.

Guerin joked that with Middleton turning 28 on Thursday, he would find a way to celebrate his birthday by opening beer cans, regardless of the injury.

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