Article: Brock Faber Ranked Among Top Under-25 Defensemen in NHL

[Thomas Williams]

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[Citizen Strife]

Just stop over-relying on him, and I bet his "slump" will be a thing of the past.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Just stop over-relying on him, and I bet his "slump" will be a thing of the past.

I'm certainly hoping to see an article about Jiricek having spent several weeks with the Wild's skating coach this summer and coming into the year with better technique that will allow him to get consistent NHL minutes. He was fairly solid last season when the Wild had him in the NHL.

[Sam]

Not bad for a fatass. RIP ODC

[mnfaninnc]

What should we expect from the kids coming in? Bill Guerin drafted within 2020 and 2022 to be his big prize. He traded for 2020 pick Brock Faber and 2022 pick David Jiricek. They are about to make their appearance full time. 

Chuck Fletcher did something similar with his drafts. His drafts started with a 7th rounder in 2009, most forwards in 2010 and his defensemen in 2011 & 2012. But, they all pretty much showed up around the same time. 

Rossi was already being compared with Granlund. What Rossi's been able to do in his time has accelerated quicker than Granny did. Granny showed up underwhelming in 2012-13 with 8 pts. in 27 games. He then followed that up with 41 points the following year. Kind of hit a plateau for 2 more seasons until exploding for 69 points in 2016-17. From the stats, it may appear as if Rossi is a better player, but he was also marinated longer in the A. 

Ohgren best compares with Niederreiter. Nino was traded for but was part of that 2010 class. He started with 9 games in his drafted year, then 55 games with 1 point. His next year was all AHL, until he came to us. 2013-14 was his 1st year with us good for 36 points. But, after that, he was a 20+ goal scorer. But, as we remember with Nino, he was very streaky. OgZ seems to be that way too, and he favors the last 1/2 of a season.

Charlie Coyle doesn't really have a comparable here, and he constantly got shifted between wing and center. However, he produced, but was also on the top line. His development was 1-1/2 a season in college, 1/2 a season in jrs. and then 3/4 of a season in the A. Could Yurov be like Coyle? Certainly not as big, but he could switch from center to wing. The difference is that Yurov has been marinating in the K for 3 seasons. My expectation is that he comes in with a little more than Coyle showed in year 2 (30 pts.)

Zucker took longer. He debuted in '11-12, but had a freeway named after him for his constant traveling on the I-35 corridor. It took him 3 more years past his debut to get a full time gig. Haula didn't show up until '13-14, instead spending 3 years at UoM and then split a year between the A and N. 

Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber are a match. Both are smooth skating minute munchers. Faber wasn't supposed to have offense, but has shown more early on than Brodin, but both were thrown to the wolves on pair 1 and excelled there. Brodin started in the A in '12-13 due to the lockout and was an immediate callup. 

The next season, Matt Dumba debuted, but only lasted 13 games before being sent back to jrs. Of course, he got traded from Red Deer to Portland so he could play with better players. The following season he was ready. He was a bit of a liability on defense, but was good offensively and with the heat seeking missile hits. This sounds a little like what we briefly saw with Buium minus the hits. 

Within that grouping, Fletcher whiffs on Zack Phillips, and Mario Lucia. Hopefully, Guerin didn't whiff. But we still haven't seen 2nd rounders and beyond from '21, '22. There is hope for some of those guys to turn out. 

We traded for David Jiricek, something that Fletcher didn't do. But, he also had Scandella and Spurgeon come in about the same time. But, what was missing in the Fletcher plan? As we found out, he didn't have a goalie....or did he? He thought he already had them. Backy was at the end, but he had Harding, with Hackett and Kuemper coming up. Kuemper got rushed and his confidence wasn't there. 

Guerin has taken care of that with the drafting of The Wall. But, he also scouted a kid from Eastern Europe and signed him, even though he was a bit older. We still don't know how this will play out, but waiting a couple of years to accumulate goaltenders is not a bad plan. 

Some could say that the Fletcher guys could have used a little more time in the A, but, opportunity called in the signings of Parise and Suter. They had to learn on the fly! Will Guerin's plan of drafting his guys in 3 drafts, and marinating them for what seems like forever work out better than Fletcher's plan? That's what we'll find out this season. The page will turn. 

From a marketing standpoint, this is the perfect time to update uniforms. It's a visual reminder that this is a new team. This is especially true for the fans, who will still need to have patience for the kids to grow. I'm excited for this transition, I hope we go with the 5 rookies expected to make the team, and am hoping for a 6th to make it. In my mind, it is Jonas Brodin who has seen this before. His leadership will be huge during this time. Spurgy will also remember it.