By Robert Brent -
Brock Faber is one of the Minnesota Wild's most consequential players. He leads the team in time on ice at 5-on-5 and the penalty kill, and is tops among Wild defensemen in power play ice time. They task him with shutting down the opposing team's top players nightly. He does all that as a second-year player who ranks sixth in the NHL in average time-on-ice per game.
Faber has performed admirably for much of the season, but his excessive deployment is becoming a concern in Minnesota. For the second straight year, the defenseman is playing far worse in the second half of the season. The defender's dip in play has become especially pronounced in recent weeks.
In his last 10 games, Faber has two points and 19 giveaways. He has also struggled to possess the puck, with an under-50 Corsi-for percentage in seven of those contests. While the plus/minus stat is generally an incomplete indicator of individual play, it is concerning that Faber is a minus-11 in those last 10 matchups.
If you're wondering why we’re highlighting Faber when other players around him are struggling, that’s fair. But this isn't just a regular slump. Minnesota's No. 1 defenseman has been a flat-out liability in 2025.
The Wild have played 29 games since January 1, with Faber playing 25 of those games. During that span, Faber's on-ice expected goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 (43.7%) is significantly lower Minnesota's mark with him off the ice (48.5%), according to Natural Stat Trick. Given that Faber has logged nearly 19 minutes per night of 5-on-5 play alone, that's a huge red flag for the Wild. A big reason for their struggles is that their No. 1 defenseman isn't dictating the play like they expect him to.
The Calder Trophy runner-up had a very good reason for his decline in the second half of last season. He was not only playing with cracked ribs, but was forced to play more than the team intended due to Jared Spurgeon's hip and back injuries. Minnesota is having injury issues again this season. Still, as far as we know, Faber isn't among the walking wounded. Instead, the most likely culprit is that the Wild lean on Faber in high-leverage situations, and they do so too much.
Despite Faber's waning effectiveness, the Wild are putting more on him than ever. In his last 10 games, Faber has averaged more than 26 minutes per game, ranking second in the NHL. At this point in the season, Faber is clearly starting to fatigue.
"It's hard. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't," Faber told The Athletic. "But at the same time, I'm doing what I love. It's hard to focus on negative thoughts — 'I'm playing bad, this hurts, I'm tired' — when I'm playing here and with the group we have."
While his attitude is good, his lack of energy is starting to cost the Wild in crucial situations. Occasionally, he plays well before fading late in games. Faber's outing against the Vancouver Canucks on March 7 was one of his best recent efforts. He had a goal and dominated possession with a 66.2 Corsi-for percentage. Still, he seemed to tire at the end of the game, and it cost the Wild when the smooth-skating Faber got beat to a puck by Teddy Blueger, who scored an empty net goal to ice the game.
Blueger made a great effort to beat Faber, but the Minnesota defender had the inside track. When a play like that happens once, it isn't too concerning. However, Faber has had a recent pattern of pucks beating him, so it's time to take a closer look at these incidents. In the Wild's next game, Faber got out-raced on an empty net again.
Faber was upset by the play and broke his stick on the net after Crosby's goal. Minnesota's star defender discussed the two plays with The Athletic.
"It was frustration, getting beat to two races (in 36 hours)," Faber said. "I felt like I could give a lot more… if I was fresh. I felt like they were long shifts, and I'd say 90 percent of that's on me for either not changing or taking too long of a shift or whatever it was. I don't want to blame it on being tired, but after being out on the ice for two minutes, it's hard to be at your best."
In an expression of leadership, Faber takes responsibility and doesn't want to blame it on fatigue. Still, although he’s 22, he’s one of the most heavily-used defenders in the league for the second straight season.
That isn't to say the narrative on Faber should be negative. The young defender is one of the best in the game and can be a tremendous asset to the Wild. Faber's fatigue is more an issue of how Minnesota needs to manage him going forward.
It's easy to say Faber’s contract dictates that he should be able to manage his heavy workload, but it bears mentioning that Faber is dealing with more than simple No. 1 defenseman minutes. Only Ryan Suter played more minutes in a season for the Wild than Faber did last season... as a rookie! This year, Faber's average time on ice has increased from 24:58 to 25:18. That doesn't even reflect the extra 93:22 he accumulated in four games during the 4 Nations Faceoff.
Even with Suter demonstrating the ability to take on that workload year after year, the general consensus was that Minnesota could get better play out of him if they lightened his responsibilities. Why shouldn't that mindset apply to Faber, as well? But unfortunately for the Wild, they lack options. Injuries to key defensive players have given the team no choice but to overextend their best blueliner as they try to hold on to a playoff spot. It's difficult to imagine where the young D-man’s minutes will go if the Wild even tried resting him.
While the Wild don’t have a ton of options, help might be coming. The Wild have spent a lot of assets building their defensive group, most recently trading a haul for David Jiricek. They have one of the most vaunted defensive prospects in the league, Zeev Buium. However, Jiricek has struggled to get into games since joining the Wild, even if he has played reasonably well in his limited action.
Buium has the potential to be a star eventually but should be able to contribute once he's finished his season with Denver, even if people may be unreasonable expecting him to have an immediate impact. Jiricek and Buium are two young players in their own right, so expecting them to make an impact immediately is a lot to ask. Still, they need to lighten Faber’s load by addressing an aging top-four that includes Jonas Brodin, Spurgeon, and Jake Middleton.
With seven years left on Faber's contract in Minnesota, the Wild must find the best way to maximize their asset. The defender has drawn praise for his minute-crunching abilities, but at what cost? With his second year in a row seeing his play dip in the second half, it may be time to evaluate whether that's what the Wild want him to be. He's a great player, thrust into a difficult situation, and it seems to be affecting him negatively. If the Wild want their investment to work out, they'll have to figure out how to lighten the load.
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