Article: Brock Faber's Fatigue Is Becoming An Issue For the Wild

[Robert Brent]

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[Dean]

This is an easy one. The solution is sitting in the press box. The guy they traded all there picks for.  He isn’t going to get development in Iowa. Where is the last batch of d man we were told were the future? Still in Iowa doing nothing. 
    Spurg isn’t pulling his weight if Faber minutes are that high an either are the little forwards that aren’t getting back to defend . They all just get overpowered . 
    I read today Billy said he didn’t go big at deadline because of the 4 year plan. Wait I thought it was a 5 year plan.  Yeah he probably meant year two so 4 more years but then you look at the crap he does, he really doesn’t have a plan or should he have wasted assets this worthless year  

   Why is ohgren in the minors when your washed up vets who just spent two weeks in Mexico are crying about being tired.  On yeah it’s because you spent all your money on a left wing pylon last free agency and didn’t leave enough space for call ups. Is that part of the 4 year plan to be clueless the last two years on salary cap?   Oh wait the cap penalties.  It’s so hard on Billy. Poor Billy. Except for the fact he’s got more than 14 million in bad contracts on this team that he gave out. 
     Fans are getting sick of this team and the same guys doing nothing year after year . It’s playoff time and they are getting booed. Heck the old fiala kappy teams were more interesting and exciting to watch.  So why’s don’t they have the kids in now to learn? They aren’t scoring , winning or competing  , so let the kids play.  
     Since this season is another to forget , what’s the future hold. Idk. If kappy doesn’t sign this crap was all a waste of time and Billy should be gone. If he does sign , how the heck do you build a contender with these prospects and all his dumb contracts.  Trading away all those picks basically signaled it’s go time with a bunch of middle of the road prospects .  This team needs a lot more than a Russian and Zeev.

[Burnt Toast]

The whole team looks gassed. I still can’t believe they beat the Aves and survived overtime, especially watching Makar skate through the entire Dallas team and dazzle Ott. I’m hoping for a rebound! I’m not against the idea of trying out some younger players who should be rested and 100% ready to go. 

[Citizen Strife]

They have little to lose putting Jiricek in for Merrill.  Getting beaten down 5-1 by the freaking Blues should be enough to see that one of Chisholm, Bogo, or Merrill should sit so Jiricek could get some offense going.  He showed in the earlier stint that his presence already matters.

I understand the risk.  But letting in 5 goals is letting in 5 goals.  At that point, you lost the game.  

Edited 17 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[Willy the poor boy]

22 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

They have little to lose putting Jiricek in for Merrill.  Getting beaten down 5-1 by the freaking Blues should be enough to see that one of Chisholm, Bogo, or Merrill should sit so Jiricek could get some offense going.  He showed in the earlier stint that his presence already matters.

I understand the risk.  But letting in 5 goals is letting in 5 goals.  At that point, you lost the game.  

Doesn't sound like it's gonna be tonight according to Joe Smith.

[Patrick]

The level of stupidity displayed by the Wild over the last few years with managing players workloads and injuries boggles the mind.  First KK (remember when they were skating him 25 minutes a game, I wonder if his injuries have anything to do with that?🤔) and now Faber.  On top of injury risk the decline in play makes it a senseless thing to do

[RedLake]

Jiricek/Buuim. Just send it.

[hydguy75]

11 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

The whole team looks gassed.

Exactly.  You cannot expect a 22 year old, 2nd year defender to carry this team, including secondary scoring.  In fact, I'm really starting to question the GM and Coaches decisions to allow Fabs to put in that many minutes, especially if he is failing and winded recently.  Now, I get it- he's making veteran 2 way player money, but given the shear about of lost time by other key players to injuries, and the lack of offensive results by the subsequent forward lines, has the entire team exhausted.  Bring up some reliefs, close the season, lick your wounds, heal up over the summer, and figure it out for next year (then here we are again, revolving the same message year after year). 

Which all brings me to a side note.  Has the recent NHL expansions thinned out the league too much where there is not enough NHL-ready players on all of the rosters?  Or is it the NHL has added some really great players that they have moved the game up a few notches?  Even with our A-team, this is the best we have to lace up each night? 

 

[MacGyver]

The first step in proper player management is being realistic about where your standing is within the league. Is this team as it currently stands in the mix for winning the Stanley Cup this year? Highly doubtful even if a fully healthy Kaprizov and Ek return.

But yet they continue to grind Faber into the ground. Give him a couple maintenance days and play Jiricek or some of the other youngsters. I understand they are fighting to get into the playoffs because it's where OCL makes his money. But they are pretty solidly in right now. When Faber himself says he's tired and wore out the team should listen. They are risking serious injury to him for what? 

[Amaddeo]

I see the points being made in this article and by fans alike. I think if the Wild had the offensive luxury of winning games 5-1, 6-1 etc, they could sit Faber more and reduce his mins in those games. But every game is a close and low scoring game, so you see his ice time always around 25 mins. I agree with having Jiricek come in, even for a bit. Play the kid 13-16 mins with some PP time and see how he does. Maybe up Spurge’s mins a tad since he’s looked good. Then you can bring Faber’s mins down to 23 or so. I’m sure even that tiny adjustment would help keep him more fresh. 

[Will D. Ness]

Brodin getting back in the lineup in the next game or two should help with Faber's minutes.  Faber looked good last night... especially vs Fiala...  I bet there is a little competition between them.