Those days are finally past.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s contracts are mostly off the books — their terminated deals will still count $1.7 million against the cap for the next three years — and that means Guerin is largely free of the financial shackles that impeded his ability to aggressively pursue free agents.

This doesn’t mean Guerin will throw money around on July 1 when free agency begins. The Wild plan on devoting a good chunk of cap space to winger Kirill Kaprizov in what will be a busy summer.

Here are three areas that will be addressed:

Locking up the franchise player
Wild owner Craig Leipold said last fall that no team would offer Kaprizov more money or a longer contract than the Wild. Kaprizov, who has one season left on his five-year, $45 million contract, is eligible to be offered an extension starting July 1.

With the Parise/Suter contracts off the books, signing Kaprizov to an eight-year deal this offseason should be a priority for the Wild. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Wild can pay Kaprizov more because they have the ability to offer an eight-year contract. If Kaprizov elects to play out his contract and become a free agent after next season, teams can only offer him a seven-year deal.

The Wild have no intention of letting it get to that.

Kaprizov, 28, is the Wild’s first superstar and his importance to the franchise is clear to everyone. He was one of the leading candidates for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP this season before being sidelined by a lower body injury that required surgery just after Christmas.

Kaprizov only played 41 games and still finished second on the Wild with 25 goals and third with 56 points. He returned late in the regular season and had five goals and nine points in six playoff games.

Kaprizov’s new contract would not kick in until 2026-27.

The NHL salary cap will rise from $88 million this season to $95.5 million for 2025-26. The projections for the following two seasons are $104 million and $113.5 million.

Given the upcoming cap increases, Kaprizov’s reps likely will start by asking for $15 million to $16 million in average annual value over eight years. The Wild have little choice but to capitulate given the fact Kaprizov is holding all of the cards.

“I’m very confident that we’re going to get a deal done with Kirill,” Guerin said. “He really loves this market and this team. I think he feels that we’re going in the right direction.”

Center of attention
Anyone who watched the Wild’s first-round playoff loss could see the team’s lack of a true No. 1 center was a problem. That is nothing new and it’s an issue that Guerin wants to solve. He said the center position will be a focus in free agency, adding that he “wouldn’t be opposed to a scoring winger, either.”

Joel Eriksson Ek is a quality center, but ideally he would slot into the No. 2 or No. 3 slot and play on more of a grind-it-out line.

But here’s the issue: Finding a top-line center isn’t easy and they don’t often hit the open market.

That’s what makes this so interesting for Guerin.

The top centers set to become free agents this July include Toronto’s John Tavares, Florida’s Sam Bennett, Colorado’s Brock Nelson and Dallas’ Matt Duchene. Only Bennett is under age 30 from that group and he will turn 29 on June 20. There are reports that Tavares wants to return to the Maple Leafs and that the Panthers are going to make a push to re-sign Bennett.

Nelson is a Warroad native and there has been speculation that the Wild will bring him home. However, he will turn 34 on Oct. 15 and signing him to a multi-year contract with any type of no-trade protection (which everyone gets these days) comes with plenty of risk.

Guerin’s best option might be the trade market. This wouldn’t be cheap, but the Wild’s prospect pool was ranked second in the NHL by The Athletic this year. That gives Guerin some quality ammunition in trade talks.

Marco Rossi played in all 82 games with the Wild in each of the past two seasons. He scored 21 goals and 40 points in 2023-24 but jumped to 24 goals and 60 points in 2024-25. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

One player Guerin could offer is winger Liam Ohgren. Ohgren has played in 28 games for the Wild over the past two seasons but has spent the majority of that time in Iowa. The Wild brass claims to remain high on the 21-year-old, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he was the centerpiece of a package for a top-line center.

The Wild also could offer restricted free agent center Marco Rossi. The ninth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, Rossi finished second on the Wild with 60 points this season. His 24 goals were third on the team and he was one of only three Wild players to appear in all 82 games.

However, Rossi was demoted to the fourth line in the playoffs, and it seems likely the team and player could agree to a mutual parting of ways this offseason.

One thing the Wild don’t have to offer is their 2025 first-round pick — that went to Columbus in the trade for defenseman David Jiricek.

Centers who might be available on the trade market this summer could include Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson and the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad. Both, however, are coming off disappointing seasons.

Another name to keep an eye on is Detroit captain Dylan Larkin.

Larkin expressed his displeasure with the Red Wings’ lack of activity at the trade deadline in March, leading to speculation about his future in Detroit. Larkin’s frustration is understandable considering the Red Wings’ last playoff appearance came during his rookie season in 2015-16.

The Michigan native has a no-trade clause and five years remaining on the eight-year, $69.6 million contract he signed in 2023. Larkin’s cap hit is $8.7 million per season.

It appears a long shot Larkin would be dealt — or approve a trade — but he’s had four consecutive 30-goal seasons and even the hint that he might be available makes it worth Guerin’s time to put a call into Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman.

Liam Ohgren scored two goals and three assists in 24 games with the Minnesota Wild in 2024-25. He spent 41 games with the Iowa Wild this season, scoring 19 goals and 37 points. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

About that scoring winger
If Guerin acquired a center in a deal involving Ohgren, odds are he would turn to the free-agent market to pursue a scoring winger to fit into the top six. The Wild are projected to have $20.6 million in salary cap space for 2025-26, according to PuckPedia.

The top free agent on the market will be Toronto’s Mitch Marner, but he likely will end up in Toronto or getting a massive deal elsewhere.

Signing Nikolaj Ehlers away from the Winnipeg Jets would not only help the Wild but weaken a Central Division opponent. The 29-year-old winger has scored more than 20 goals in eight of his nine seasons with the Jets and had six power-play goals this season.

The Wild also could look to bring home right winger Brock Boeser after nine seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. The 28-year-old Burnsville native had his goal output drop from 40 to 25 this season, but it was a tumultuous year in Vancouver that impacted many players on the team.

The post Guerin’s To-Do List appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

No, this was not an encore performance from Mason Kraft and the Moorhead Spuds boys’ hockey team.

This was the Minnesota Wild getting out to the fastest goal-scoring start at home in franchise history when they jumped all over the Seattle Kraken following an 8:52 p.m. puck drop Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center. The end result was a 4-0 win.

Here are five rules from the Wild’s second consecutive win on home ice:

1. The Wild scored goals in a 1:42 span, also the second-fastest three goals to start a game in franchise history.

The floodgates opened early for the Wild, the same team that’s had trouble scoring goals across its last dozen or so games. It hadn’t scored a first-period goal in six games, let alone pumping in multiple goals in quick succession. The Wild scored the trio of goals in a span of 1 minute, 42 seconds. That prompted Seattle (30-35-5) to call a timeout and calm things down at the 4:29 mark of the game.

“The plan was to try to come out right away, get everyone involved, and that was a really good start for us,” said Wild forward Ryan Hartman.  

The fastest three goals for the Wild came Jan. 14, 2017 in Dallas when they scored three in four minutes.

The Wild also became the fastest team to score three goals to start a game this season in the NHL. The previous mark was the Detroit Red Wings scoring three by the 5:06 mark on Feb. 23.

The Wild also scored at least three goals in back-to-back games. The last time that happened was sandwiched around the break in February with a 6-3 win against the New York Islanders on Feb. 8 and then a 4-3 overtime victory in Detroit right after the break on Feb. 22.

2. Hartman scored first, Matt Boldy broke out of his slump, Liam Ohgren scored his second of the season.

First, it was Hartman tallying his second goal in as many games. He slid perfectly into the slot, accepted the puck and fired it into the net only 2 minutes, 47 seconds into the game. It’s his ninth goal of the season and third since returning from his eight-game suspension.

Matt Boldy scored an unassisted tally just 1 minute, 12 seconds later to break his 11-game goal drought.

“It’s always fun to score,” Boldy said. “I was happy to see one go in, for sure. Some relief.

“I think the more you build it up, the more stress you create about yourself. You try to stay away from it and keep if off your mind.”

He also added an empty-netter, which gave him 23 goals for the season and putting him into a tie for the team goals lead with the injured Kirill Kaprizov.

Liam Ohgren, playing his first Wild game since Feb. 28 at Colorado, made it 3-0 at the 4:29 mark of the game. It’s the third goal of his NHL career and first at Xcel Energy Center. He’s spent the majority of the season in Iowa, but he also recognized how much it helped when the team got out to such a quick lead.

“When that happens, you’re always on a roll, and you always want more,” Ohgren said. “That’s what keeps the guys going. It was fun.”

3. The game was pretty quiet after the first five minutes.

Unlike the Stillwater vs. Moorhead boys’ state championship game that turned into an exciting 7-6 win for the Spuds, the similarities to the Wild game ended at that 4:29 mark in the first period.

Any late-arriving fans to the late-evening puck drop missed all the action. Beyond the three quick goals, there wasn’t much in the way of excitement. The Wild couldn’t generate much of anything on two first-period power plays. They also went cold in the shots-on-goal department in the final minutes of the opening period and didn’t register a shot in the second until just after the first TV timeout.

The Wild successfully killed off a penalty in the first minute of the second period, going 11-for-12 across the last five games.

Also on the defensive end, Filip Gustavsson made 34 saves in net for his 27th win of the season and fifth shutout. The victory was the Wild’s sixth shutout this season. Gustavsson is 5-2-1 with an NHL-leading .944 save percentage in March.

Wild coach John Hynes likes the consistency he’s seeing from Gustavsson lately.

“It seems like he’s mentally alert and physically he feels good,” Hynes said. “That’s what I like.

“Naturally, the game forces you to be completely engaged and intense, and I thought in tonight’s game he was there when we needed him because we didn’t play a perfect game, but even though we were up with a lead I thought when they had some looks he was sharp and that to me was a really good game by him and then I think it shows you where his mental focus is.

4. The Wild can’t make it through the game without another player getting injured.

The news wasn’t all good on the Wild front. Marco Rossi left the game early in the second period when he took a Boldy shot off his leg. The team announced in the second period that Rossi wouldn’t return after sustaining the lower-body injury. Hynes didn’t have an update on Rossi after the game.

“Hopefully he’s okay, and it’s nothing serious,” Hartman said.

The Wild were already shorthanded (what else is new?) to start the night with Marcus Foligno missing his second straight game with day-to-day status. Marcus Johansson also missed Wednesday because of illness. Ohgren found out he was playing when he got to the rink pregame.

Add Rossi to the mix, and that brings the Wild’s list of players not suiting up quite lengthy:

Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, Foligno, Johansson and Rossi. It’s another blow for Rossi, whose goal slump reached 11 games including Wednesday.

5. That’s back-to-back Wild wins on home ice for the first time since early February.

The Wild have been a better road team all season, with a 22-10-3 record. Home ice has not been their advantage, for whatever reason. They’ve hovered around the .500 mark at home and have also put up some real lackluster efforts. They were just booed off the ice Saturday in a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, after all.

But the win against the Kraken improved the Wild’s mark at Xcel Energy Center to 17-15-2, and 3-2-1 on the seven-game homestand that wraps up Saturday afternoon against Buffalo. Coupled with the team’s 3-1 win over Los Angeles on Monday, the Wild won back-to-back home games for the first time since Feb. 6 and Feb. 8 against Carolina and the Islanders.

The post Rink Rule: Kraken vs. Wild appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The only team that didn’t make a trade that moved the needle was the third-place Minnesota Wild. Bottom six winger Justin Brazeau was acquired from Boston late Thursday after veteran winger Gustav Nyquist was obtained from Nashville last weekend.

Will Wild general manager Bill Guerin be criticized for not doing more? Probably. Should he be? Absolutely not.

If Guerin had really wanted to deal for a player such as Nelson, Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens, who was moved to Ottawa, or Vancouver’s Brock Boeser, who wasn’t moved, he could have put Joel Eriksson Ek on long-term injured reserve with Kirill Kaprizov and kept both out until the playoffs opened in order to circumvent the salary cap.

But Guerin wisely elected to keep his top prospects and focus on the opening of free agency on July 1. That’s when the NHL’s salary cap will rise from $88 million to $95.5 million and when the dead cap hits of $14.7 million for the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will shrink to $1.7 million.

The Wild and Avalanche both have 76 points, but the Wild are in third place because they have a game in hand. The Avalanche almost certainly will pass the Wild in the coming days, but Minnesota still figures to make the playoffs. A fantastic start to the season that briefly put the Wild atop the NHL standings has helped to give them an eight-point lead on Calgary, the second wild card in the Western Conference, and a nine-point lead on Vancouver, the first team out of the postseason.

But there is no way Guerin could have looked at his roster on Friday — especially once the Jets, Avalanche and Stars started making moves — and thought he had a team that could emerge from the Western Conference. The Wild missed the playoffs last season, were expected to miss again this season and ended up being a pleasant surprise that right now is without two of their top forwards, Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek, and a top-four defenseman in Jonas Brodin.

The what-if? game
While Guerin says he expects Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Brodin to return before the regular season is finished, no one knows how effective they will be if they do play again. Let’s say the Wild had acquired Boeser for a 2026 first-round pick — their 2025 first-rounder was dealt to Columbus for promising young defenseman David Jiricek — along with winger Liam Ohgren and a third-round selection.

Would Boeser have joined a team that had a full-strength Kaprizov? The Wild forward has played in three games of 27 games since Dec. 23 after initially being considered day-to-day. Kaprizov underwent surgery for his lower-body injury in late January and still hasn’t started skating. He might return, but will he be his normal explosive self? Clearly, Guerin and the doctors have no idea.

Eriksson Ek, the Wild’s best center, has missed the past five games because of what The Athletic reported is a broken bone in his leg. Wild coach John Hynes told The Athletic it might be a “usage injury,” meaning there is no predicting if Eriksson Ek will be fully healthy again this season. Brodin has dealt with injuries all season and is now out with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot against Colorado late last month.

Add it up and the only thing a significant trade by Guerin would have done is add a player, likely on an expiring contract, to a mix of guys who might be back at some point but also could and should be shut down at the first sign of trouble. The Wild are better off pursuing Boeser when he becomes a free agent on July 1 and not giving up anything for him.

Given Guerin’s penchant for making deals, the guess here is that it pained him to mostly sit out this deadline. But he did the right thing. The Wild’s long-term future looks bright because the cupboard is filled with prospects. Not moving some of them in the name of trying to make a run against what now appears to be superior competition was the type of restraint for which Guerin should be applauded.

The post Less Is More appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild entered Thursday four points behind second-place Dallas in the Central Division, two points ahead of Colorado and eight points clear of the first team outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Minnesota had four games left before the deadline and 24 games remaining in the regular season.

The problem is that the Wild have been without superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov for all but three games since late December because of a lower-body injury, and now have lost center Joel Eriksson Ek to a lower-body injury that the team says will sideline him week-to-week.

Kaprizov, who still leads the Wild in goals (23) and points (52) despite missing 21 games, was originally supposed to miss four-to-six weeks after undergoing surgery in late January. Guerin recently said Kaprizov will miss more time than expected.

Eriksson Ek’s participation with Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off was questioned based on the fact he missed the Wild’s final game before the break because of a lower-body injury and that he already had missed 14 games this season because of injury. Eriksson Ek returned for the Wild’s first game after the 4 Nations but was placed on injured reserve before Tuesday’s loss to Detroit.

Kirill Kaprizov still leads the Wild in scoring, despite missing more than 20 games due to injury this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The refusal by NHL teams to divulge injury information leaves us with no idea of when Kaprizov or Eriksson Ek might be back. The reality is both could be lost for the rest of the regular season and even the playoffs. Kaprizov already is on long-term injured reserve — a player must be expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days of the season to go on LTIR — and Eriksson Ek could join him.

The LTIR designation creates salary cap space, meaning the Wild would be able to add significant help at the deadline. But that would keep Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek on the shelf until the playoffs open, at which point the salary cap disappears. Teams, such as the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning, have angered NHL fans and teams by using this to their advantage.

Do nothing at the deadline?
But if Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek aren’t going to return this season, or return at far less than 100%, there’s a case to be made that Guerin might be best served to do nothing. The Wild find themselves nearing the finish line of having $14.8 million in dead salary cap space caused by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Those hits will decrease to a much more manageable $1.7 million next season and the salary cap will rise $7.5 million to $95.5 million.

That puts the Wild in an excellent position to be active when free agency opens on July 1. How wise it would be to acquire a Brock Nelson from the Islanders or Brock Boeser from the Canucks at the deadline for what almost certainly would be a steep price?

Nelson could help the Wild replace Eriksson Ek at center and Boeser could provide some scoring punch, but both are pending free agents. So unless Guerin was acquiring a player he liked with term left on his contract, why give up quality from your organization when that player can be signed this summer?

Guerin and coach John Hynes want to make the playoffs after missing them last season, but the Wild remain in good shape to do so. What Guerin shouldn’t do is give up a young player, such as winger Liam Ohgren, or one of his better prospects because he thinks a trade might be able to help the Wild win a playoff round.

The Athletic recently ranked the Wild prospect pool second in the NHL and you would think that top prospects such as forward Danila Yurov and defensemen Zeev Buium and David Jiricek are off limits. Jiricek, the sixth-overall pick by Columbus in the 2022 draft, was acquired earlier this season for the Wild’s 2025 first-round pick. That would be the selection to move in a trade, but Guerin knew that when he sent it to the Blue Jackets.

Guerin also knew he was adding a big, right-handed shot defenseman to his blue line for the future. And that’s where Guerin’ focus should remain — the future. An attempted quick fix might create excitement, but with major questions about Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek that enthusiasm is certain to be short-lived.

The post Deadline Dilemma appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild’s 5-10-4 start had gotten coach Dean Evason fired and now Minnesota was in a 1-7-1 slide that dropped it from being on the verge of a playoff spot to again looking like a team that could begin booking tee times for April.

Guerin, though, claimed he wasn’t giving up hope.

“If you look at our roster like when we are healthy,” he said, “I think it’s a good team. I want to keep the expectations high. … I expect us to compete for a playoff spot.”

Guerin’s competitive nature certainly played a role in his continued confidence, but you had to wonder if his real motivation was making sure the guys in his locker room wouldn’t feel as if he was punting on the season.

That’s exactly what he should do.

The word associated with this is tanking, but that’s such an ugly term. It insinuates an entire team is giving up and, as we know, most coaches and players are too competitive to do this. A more palatable word would be acceptance.

Accepting that even if you sneak into the playoffs, you aren’t getting out of the first round and accepting that an already bright future could get brighter by adding draft picks before the March 8 trade deadline, while also potentially putting yourself in the NHL draft lottery. (Eleven of the 16 teams that miss the playoffs are eligible for the first pick in the draft.)

The two things that should influence Guerin’s thinking are:

1) The depth this team has built up through the draft in recent years. Jesper Wallstedt, the team’s top goalie prospect, has been up a few times this season but is likely to take over as the Wild’s top goalie in 2024-25. Russian Marat Khusnutdinov, a speedy two-way center and forwards Liam Ohgren (Sweden) and Danila Yurov (Russia) are included in a prospect pool that has been replenished in recent years. That doesn’t include rookies Marco Rossi and Brock Faber, the latter of whom is a candidate for the Calder Trophy.

2) Next season will be the final one in which the Wild will carry a combined $14.7 million in dead salary-cap money because of the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. That figure will drop to $1.7 million in 2025-26, meaning that team will have plenty of space to pursue a free agent as well as offer star winger Kirill Kaprizov a long-term extension.

Marco Rossi is part of the Wild’s bright future, and he’s already left a positive mark on the NHL club. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

This plan might not appeal to owner Craig Leipold, who lives and dies with every game and wants his team to be competitive, in part because of the extra cash generated by even a few home playoff games, but Guerin has an opportunity he should embrace.

Wild has plenty no-move, no-trade protection players
The elephant in the room when it comes to the Wild’s potential trade candidates is the fact that in today’s NHL far too many players are afforded either no-move or no-trade protection that gives them a say in whether they want to uproot themselves and their families and go elsewhere to chase a Stanley Cup.

The Wild’s roster has nine players with some type of no-trade protection: Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno, Frederick Gaudreau, Marcus Johansson, Ryan Hartman, Pat Maroon, Jonas Brodin, Alex Goligoski and Zach Bogosian. Foligno, Johansson, Hartman, Brodin and Goligoski have complete protection.

There are some guys who aren’t going to be shopped, even though they don’t have no-trade clauses, including Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. Perhaps the most interesting chip on whom Guerin could take bids is goalie Filip Gustavsson.

Gustavsson has had an up-and-down season, but the 25-year-old could be very appealing to a contender. He’s in the first season of a three-year, $11.25 million contract he signed in July, meaning his average annual salary is a very reasonable $3.75 million per. Teams that could be in the market for a goaltender include Carolina, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles and New Jersey.

Guerin’s ability to create a bidding war among those teams could make what seems like a difficult decision (trading Gustavsson) too lucrative not to do. If there’s internal confidence that Wallstedt will be ready to take over as the Wild’s top goalie next season, getting a first-round pick and needing to find another goalie for next season could be the prudent plan. And that’s assuming Marc-Andre Fleury does not return.

It was interesting that before the game against the Islanders — one the Wild won 5-0 en route to going on a 4-1 run — Guerin did not close the door on making moves at the deadline, if things were not on the right track.

The fact the Wild then lost back-to-back home games against Western Conference rivals Nashville and Anaheim, the latter of which is a bottom feeder, should have given Guerin a push in the right direction entering a 10-day break for the bye and the All-Star Game.

“I don’t think I can sit here right now and say, ‘If it goes sideways, we’re going to do X, Y and Z,'” Guerin said in mid-January. “But we could.”

Actually, the word “could” needs to be amended to “should” because while there is hope for the future of the Wild, the present isn’t worth preserving.

The post Time To Punt appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

That play, however, is the exact reason Faber belongs in the conversation for the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year. It’s also the reason why coach Dean Evason and his successor, John Hynes, have not hesitated to use the 21-year-old Faber in any situation.

A refresher on what happened: With Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon out because of injury, Faber was in the midst of logging 2 minutes, 9 seconds of ice time in the 5-minute overtime, when he got caught in a puck battle behind his own net. This is where a mental error by an exhausted defenseman can bring a quick end to the game.

This came in a game where Faber was on the ice for a then-career high 30:08, a total that would have made Ryan Suter blush. But Faber didn’t make a mistake and made the play as if he was a Norris Trophy winner.

Hynes, coaching his eighth game at the time, marveled at what he had seen.

“He’s completely exhausted, but not only (gave) a second effort, he’s got the wherewithal to bump the puck back so we can gain possession and get a line change,” Hynes said. “I think if you look at just that one little component, that’s where we’ve been talking about not just his talent, but his mindset and mental ability to handle the minutes he has and situations he’s in.

The Wild prevailed with a 3-2 win in the shootout and had their latest reminder that a trade they likely didn’t want to make has worked out better than anyone could have expected.

Faber’s rights came to the Wild from the Los Angeles Kings, along with a 2022 first-round pick that was turned into standout left winger Liam Ohgren (Sweden), for the rights to restricted free agent Kevin Fiala on June 29, 2022.

Brock Faber has stepped in as a top defenseman with the void of Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin out with injuries. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Fiala had established himself as a valuable scorer in three-plus seasons with the Wild — 79 goals, including 21 on the power play, in 215 games — but the salary-cap strapped Wild weren’t going to be able to meet his asking price.

General manager Bill Guerin knew he had to move Fiala, but how was he going to get close to a quality return? Every GM he dealt with knew that Guerin wasn’t dealing from a position of strength.

Faber quickly adapted from college to pro hockey
Faber had been drafted by the Kings in the second round in 2020 before his first season with the Minnesota Gophers. A native of Maple Grove, Minn., Faber was a standout during his three seasons with the Gophers, but he has been nothing short of phenomenal since joining the Wild last spring after the Gophers suffered a shocking overtime loss in the NCAA championship game against Quinnipiac.

Faber signed with the Wild only hours after the defeat, played two regular-season games and was a regular on the blue line in a first-round playoff loss to Dallas. That was no small feat for a guy who had been playing college hockey only a few weeks earlier.

But what Faber has done this season is far more eye-opening – especially with Spurgeon and Brodin having been lost for extended periods. Brodin had been Faber’s defensive partner before suffering an upper body injury on Dec. 8 when he was checked into the boards behind his net by Edmonton’s Evander Kane.

Spurgeon (out with a lower body injury), the Wild’s captain, was lost for the second time this season only two days after Brodin was lost. Hynes put Faber with Spurgeon’s regular defensive partner, Jake Middleton. Faber also was made the quarterback on the top power-play unit. Both have been seamless transitions.

“Being a young defenseman in the league is probably the hardest position to come in and have the responsibilities that he has,” Hynes said. “He’s been really consistent, he’s got the physical ability to play the minutes and style of game that he plays. He’s got the mental maturity to handle it, be consistent in his play and also recognize the situations he’s in in the moments of the game. Those are usually big ones, hard matchups, a lot of minutes. He’s done a really good job. He’s been impressive.”

Faber, like most hockey players, isn’t about to pump his own tires.

“I feel like when I’m clicking, I’m using my feet, making smart decisions and I’m clean on breakouts,” Faber told reporters.

The expectation is that Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard will win the Calder. Bedard, the first pick of the draft last summer, headlines a hot-shot rookie class and led all rookie scorers entering Wednesday with 13 goals and 30 points in 33 games. He’s also a minus-15 in the plus-minus category playing for a bad team.

Faber entered Wednesday’s game against Detroit in a four-way tie for eighth in rookie scoring with two goals and 16 points and was a plus-10. Anyone who watches Faber on a nightly basis knows what a difference-maker he has been for a team that wouldn’t be 11-3, or turned its season around, under Hynes, if it wasn’t for the rookie.

National pundits have started noticing what Faber is doing and the minutes he is playing. He had been on the ice for more than 30 minutes in four of his past six games, entering Wednesday, and was 10th in the NHL in ice time (24:44). This included a season-high 33:25 in a 4-3 overtime win over Montreal on Dec. 21.

Hynes, who coached the New Jersey Devils for four-plus seasons and the Nashville Predators for three-plus seasons, was asked if he could compare a defenseman from his previous stops to Faber.

“Not as a young defensemen, in the way that he’s playing the game now, the role that he’s taken on,” Hynes said. “He doesn’t get sheltered. He plays against top lines, he plays hard minutes, he plays every situation.”

In other words, he’s the type of defenseman who is hard to find. Fiala, meanwhile, is second on a very good Kings team with 30 points (seven goals, 23 assists) in 31 games. The guess here is Guerin wouldn’t reverse the trade if given the opportunity.

Not with Faber looking like a guy who could be in the race for the Norris Trophy for years to come and the Calder Trophy this spring.

The post Faber Fits In appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.