Minnesota Wild Follow NHL Trend With 8-Year Deal For Defenseman Brock Faber
For Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin, signing 21-year-old Brock Faber to the largest contract extension in the franchise’s history was an easy decision.
“When you’re sitting in my chair — and all the hockey ops group, when we talk about these things, it’s extremely important to identify who you think is going to be your part of your your foundation going forward,” Guerin told the media at a press conference on Monday, after Faber inked an eight-year deal worth a total of $68 million.
“It’s a no-brainer that that Brock is going to be one of those guys, and we wanted to lock him up.”
In 2023-24, his first full NHL season, Faber finished second to Connor Bedard in voting for the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.
Pushed into a top-pairing role on the Minnesota blue line due to injury issues that limited Wild captain Jared Spurgeon to just 16 games, Faber finished fifth in the entire NHL in total ice time, averaging 24:58 while playing all 82 games. He played on the power play, the penalty kill and in 3-on-3 overtime, and his 47 points tied him with other esteemed defensemen like Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins, Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights, and fellow rookie Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils.
Faber’s workload may have been handed to him out of necessity due to Spurgeon’s injuries, but he did not wilt under the pressure.
Not bad for a player who was originally drafted in the second round in 2020 by the Los Angeles Kings, 45th overall. A native of Maple Grove, Minnesota, Faber played three seasons at the University of Minnesota and captained the Golden Gophers in 2022-23. He was thrilled when the Kings dealt him to his hometown team, along with a first-round draft choice, when they acquired forward Kevin Fiala on June 29, 2022.
“Wild jerseys, posters, fat heads — I might have had Wild sheets at one point when I was growing up,” Faber said Monday. “I’m a Minnesota kid, born and raised, and it’s always been a dream of mine to be able to wear this sweater and play for this team. It just so happened that it worked out the way it did. Now, just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get from here on out.”
Faber has one year remaining on his entry-level contract before his new extension kicks in starting with the 2025-26 season. That locks him up until 2022-23, when he’ll be nearly 31, at an average annual value of $8.5 million per season.
