McCarron: Wild 'can say everything they want' about L'Heureux

Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron responded to Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno saying Zachary L'Heureux would have a "price to pay" for injuring Jared Spurgeon.

"Obviously they're frustrated with what happened to their captain, as we would be," McCarron told The Hockey News' Emma Lingan. "I don’t know, Foligno has been around a long time. I think he knows something has to be done. But they can say everything they want. We have guys in here that'll protect our team, and (Zach’s) not too shy himself. I mean, he's a physical player."

L'Heureux received a match penalty and was later suspended three games for slew-footing Spurgeon during a 5-3 Minnesota win Dec. 31. The Wild defenseman was labeled week-to-week and hasn't played since.

The Predators play host to the Wild on Saturday night in the clubs' first meeting since the incident.

"It's an unfortunate event, I would say, and it just so happened that it hurt a guy," McCarron said. "I don't think he (meant) to do it. His resume may say he's a dirty player, but I've been around him quite a long time, and I don’t think he's necessarily a dirty player. I think he just plays really hard.

"And it’s unfortunate that that happened, and also unfortunate what was said. I mean, obviously they want to seek retribution in some way. But like I said, we have guys on our team that will protect our teammates, and it should be a good one tonight."

Foligno issued the threat to L'Heureux earlier this week in response to what he said was a cheap-shot. The Wild forward called slew-footing "a shitty play" and said L'Heureux shouldn't have been able to just walk out of the arena after such an incident while Spurgeon wasn't able to.

L'Heureux earned nine suspensions in the QMJHL, including a 10-game ban for jamming his stick between panes of glass to jab a fan. He was also suspended twice in the AHL. The NHL Department of Player Safety doesn't consider transgressions in other leagues when determining suspensions.

The 21-year-old's three-game penalty was his first NHL suspension.