With Zeev Buium and David Jiricek have been garnering a lot of interest for the roles they are set to play for the Minnesota Wild in the upcoming season, there is another young blueliner that could be the key to the team’s success in 2025-26. The 22-year-old Brock Faber was just named as one of the top defenseman under the age of 25 by NHL.com, and if he can pull off a rebound season, things will be set for the Wild’s defense.
Faber, entering his fourth season in the NHL (yup, the 2-game debut in 2022-23 counts), has seen his ice time increase in every season, topping out at 25:32 last season, which was fourth in the league last season. Expect another busy season for the Minnesota-native, and everyone is hoping he improves upon a good, but somewhat disappointing sophomore season. After putting up 47 points (8 goals, 39 assists) and finishing second in the Calder Trophy race in 2023-24, his offensive performance dipped a little last season as he finished with 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists).
Despite having just 169 NHL games under his belt, Faber will be looked to as one of the leaders on defense, especially with Jonas Brodin expected to start the season on injured reserve. Buium and Jiricek will slot in behind him, and there is a chance that 22-year-old Carson Lambos will see some time in the NHL this season. Jake Middleton and Zach Bogosian are the veteran voices in the locker room, but Faber be taking on some more of a leadership role this year.
Last season was a true mixed bag for Faber. Yes, the offensive numbers went down, but some of his underlying stats showed improvement. At 5v5 play, the Wild posted an expected goals against of 2.09 per 60 minutes while he was on the ice, an improvement from the 2.27 XGA/60 in 2023-24. Minnesota also improved their actual goals against per 60 with him on the ice with the number dropping from 2.62 to 1.94.
That was the good, the not-so-good was that no defender on the roster was on the ice for more scoring chances against on a per-60 minute basis, and his 11.19 high-danger chances against per 60 was the highest number of any defenseman who played more than one game for the Wild last month.
It wasn't the smoothest of season for Faber as he missed a little time due to a concussion in January. That came just a few weeks after he took a puck to the throat against the Panthers. Unlike the majority of players in the league, he didn't get to take a nice break in February as he played for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off. So, there might have been a little fatigue settling into his game towards the end of the season.
In his second full year with the team, the youngster was asked to handle a lot more defensive responsibility, and to be honest, it was probably a little too soon for him to shoulder that kind of workload. In a perfect world, he could have played a little less, and the coaching staff could have set him up with some better match-ups. That wasn’t to be, and Faber had to go through a bit of a learning process.
Faber is never going to be a shut-down defenseman, it’s just not the role he is built for. However, if he wants to be a true number one blueliner in this league he’s going to have to grow into it. So, from a certain point of view, last year’s struggles were a good thing. Heading into this season he has a better grasp of what is expected of him, and he should be better equipped to handle it.
While salary shouldn’t affect a player’s performance on ice, it’s only natural for someone to try and justify a significant cap hit. Faber’s 8-year extension kicks in this season, and that will add some weight to his young shoulders. Kirill Kaprizov’s $9 million cap hit is the only one on the Wild that exceeds Faber’s $8.5 million hit, so fans, and management will be expecting him to live up to that type of investment.
Brock Faber is one of the best young defensemen in the NHL, and he has all of the skills needed to lead a team’s defensive corps. How he performs this season will go a long way in determining if he’s included in the Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, and Lane Huston conversation over the next decade.