Minnesota Wild’s Brock Faber Continues to Grow His Game

He earned a spot on the roster the next two seasons, and then in his third full season, Quinn Hughes came into the picture, and the two of them clicked. They quickly became one of the best defensive pairs in the NHL, and they continue to get stronger. Both of these players have skills that make them stand out compared to others, and they complement each other well. 

“Yeah, I think just skating, we communicate well, and it’s easy to read off of a guy who- we don’t always think the game the same way, sometimes completely opposite- but the way he uses his feet allows me to read off him so easily, and vice versa. So, I think just that skating aspect allows me to be as aggressive as I want defensively and him be as aggressive as he wants offensively, and that’s where now elevating my offensive game and elevating our defensive game as a whole will only make us better so,” Faber said to the media in the same interview when asked about playing with Hughes. 

“I think it’s an insane difference, because I mean he’s just already reading off me and I’m reading off him in the scrimmage and it’s like, it’s just easy, and he knows exactly what I’m thinking, I kind of know what he’s thinking, and that’s just going to continue to build so I’m excited just to kind of start the season up here, take it I think where we left off last season…,” Hughes said to the media after his practice session when asked about Faber and how strong their pair is and the difference from last season to this season. 

Faber Has Strong Future

Luckily for the Wild, they locked up Faber to a long-term deal when they had the chance, and at the time it seemed like a lot of money; now it’s a pretty team-friendly deal. He’s on year two of an eight-year deal, and he’s making $8.5 million per year. With Hughes by his side, he’ll continue to improve his game and become even more valuable. 

Each season he’s been with the Wild, he’s found a way to improve his stats and become a better player, and again now with Hughes, his game will take strides even quicker. Eventually he’ll likely take over the captaincy role as well once Jared Spurgeon decides to either retire or move on. Faber has strong leadership qualities, and it only makes sense for him to fill that role when the time comes. 

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve known it since playing World Juniors with him, so it’s no real surprise to me. Like he’s the best skater I think I’ve ever seen, he’s powerful, strong, you look at Quinn (Hughes) and he’s obviously an incredible skater, but like Brock to take his first two steps takes people like five steps to do, so you have a guy that skates like that meanwhile Brock played up until college really having zero offensive responsibilities in his whole career so the fact that he is this offensive and drives the rush, drives the play, scores, and he had what, like 14 goals last year it’s pretty impressive…,” said Matt Boldy to the media during training camp when asked about how Faber is being noticed. 

The Wild are very lucky to have the top players they do, and Faber is considered one of those players. While he’s still very young, he’s accomplished a lot in his career already and still has a lot of years left to do even more. Hopefully he’ll be able to help the Wild take that next step this season and find success in the postseason.