Confirmed Signing with Link: [MIN] D Brock Faber signs extension with the Wild (8 years, $8.5M AAV)

[BagHead]

This is a risk/reward with upside of saving a couple million off the cap, and downside of allocating him a couple million too much in cap. It's what he is worth for the level of play he had last year. Personally, I am fine with paying a top player who is young. If he were 30 and had been playing to this level for several years, I'd have different feelings about it as I'd expect regression instead of progression.

As someone who watched a lot of him, I think this is a solid contract with a more likely upside than downside, though both certainly exist.

 

[Hodge]

I don’t find this to be a risk at all. The kid is a freak and not just talent wise or physically. His attitude and drive are off the charts. I personally thought it was gonna start with a 9 for sure. This is awesome

You thought Brock Faber was going to sign a contract with a top 10 cap hit among NHL defensemen based on one season?

 

[norrisnick]

How many more pennies need to drop, Steve? Mo isn't getting any cheaper the longer you wait.

 

[bossram]

Seems most of the NHL is moving toward locking in younger talent where the gamble is on future productivity rather than overpaying for past accomplishments.

Exactly. Plus with the cap going up, the opportunity to reap massive surplus value from locking up talented, improving young players is too strong.

Some teams are getting it. These are the big money bets you make. Not on the 30 year old UFAs *cough Montour Stephenson cough*

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Drai had one good season before he got his 8.5M deal that turned into the biggest steal in the league

If you want "value" contracts you have to take risks

Chiarelli possibly responsible for the two best contracts of the cap era: this one and Zdeno Chara’s Boston UFA deal (technically signed while he was still under contract in OTT I believe).

 

[Ulysses31]

lol who?

 

[bland]

This is a franchise cornerstone player, not a case of a rookie with a prolific offensive season. You keep Faber's forever. Thriving 25 minutes a night against the oppositions best with future captain written all over him for a decade +.

If there is any guaranteed success story possible, this would be your candidate.

 

[kp61c]

Wonder how many kaprizov will ask if a 40 points rfa got almost 9. Crazy.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Might be worth it but couldn’t they get him locked up at a lower number given the small sample ?

They probably could have. They didn't even need to do anything this year, as he still has a year left on his ELC. He was already under contract for next season.

They WANTED to get him signed to 8 years.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Wonder how many kaprizov will ask if a 40 points rfa got almost 9. Crazy.

*47

Kaprizov will probably be the highest paid winger in the NHL if he re-signs in Minnesota, but that was going to happen regardless of what Faber just got.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Really? I really like him as a player, but I don't see an offensive side to his game that makes him a 10M defenseman.

He scored near 50 this year, and didn't see the PP until January.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Chiarelli possibly responsible for the two best contracts of the cap era: this one and Zdeno Chara’s Boston UFA deal (technically signed while he was still under contract in OTT I believe).

Chiarelli also signed Nurse,
like you said Chara was UFA, so wasn’t technically signed by Ottawa.

 

[SomeDude]

How many d men currently make 10 ? I mean you could be right but 10 is a big motsa ball

The cap is going to keep going up. We’ve been stagnant for about 5 years. Salaries for elite players are gonna grow and grow. By the time this deal hits 4 years we may have 12-14 million d-men.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

Solid contract. The level he showed when healthy last year makes him easily worth this AAV. He could even regress a fair amount and this would still be a good deal.

Regress from 47 points and still worth 8.5 million? That's an odd take. Not as odd as your Bedard takes lol.
8.5 is a deal based on the assumption his game will progress.

 

[jfhabs]

He scored near 50 this year, and didn't see the PP until January.

Yeah he scored 47 pts with only 8 goals (3 on the PP). These are not bad offensive stats, and I'm surprised to be honest, because he's a strong defender but not flashy at all offensively.

It's a good contract, but I don't think his offensive game is near the top defenders in the league.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Lot of potential for a great value contract going forward. Those are the types of contracts you need to be a Cup contender and IMO Faber won't disappoint.

I wonder what his AAV would've been had he robbed Bedard of the Calder

 

[ViD]

Drai had one good season before he got his 8.5M deal that turned into the biggest steal in the league

If you want "value" contracts you have to take risks

So did Jeff Skinner

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Exactly. Plus with the cap going up, the opportunity to reap massive surplus value from locking up talented, improving young players is too strong.

Some teams are getting it. These are the big money bets you make. Not on the 30 year old UFAs *cough Montour Stephenson cough*

Pay them based upon projection/upside and you should reap the rewards of saving money for other players on the cap. When the player reaches around the ripe old age of 28-30 when the deal is up than they hopefully will have done enough by helping their team win a Cup or show that they are willing to stick around and stay with the their team again for another contract. If the player and team aren't on the same page than they can be traded on the last year of the deal if a team wants to recoup some assests from the potential loss of them walking.

It's seems the players are pretty content getting these big contracts early. It's smart for both sides.

 

[ManofSteel55]

How much more??? You believe he can be the best defenceman in the league in a year or two?

With how well he played this year, there's no reason to think he can't grow. He's already a number one defenseman.

 

[William H Bonney]

Yeah he scored 47 pts with only 8 goals (3 on the PP). These are not bad offensive stats, and I'm surprised to be honest, because he's a strong defender but not flashy at all offensively.

It's a good contract, but I don't think his offensive game is near the top defenders in the league.

It's a good thing there is a hell of a lot more to being a top defenseman than points.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Playing the minutes and role he did as a rookie and thriving in them is insane. Just doesn't happen very often.

It's a big commitment definitely but you can see why the Wild are comfortable with it. Unless injuries hamper him he's going to be an effective top pairing D for all 8 years of that contract. I do believe it to be the correct strategy but seeing the kind of money these young guys are getting while not having a huge sample size of proven play at this level to go off of will always leave me a bit perplexed. This guy has scored 47 career pts and just got 68 million more or less guaranteed. I wonder for some of these players if the motivation to improve suffers a bit.

 

[TLEH]

Its more than I was expecting I guess but it does buy 3 UFA years. Personally I'm more of a fan of two seasons of work. If he went out there and played the same as he did last year, this upcoming year, then I'd be comfortable shelling out. Even if it costs me a bit more. I think that first season teams don't have a ton of tape on you, how you play, and your tendencies. Hockey is also a sport with a lot of luck and variance that can play into your performance.

Flip side is if you're confident in everything you see translating for years to come, then you obviously pull the trigger. Guess we'll see. Its certainly a better alternative than paying an aging UFA the same dollars, though.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Regress from 47 points and still worth 8.5 million? That's an odd take.

Yeah, I don't value defenseman by how many points they score.

Not as odd as your Bedard takes lol.
8.5 is a deal based on the assumption his game will progress.

You mean when I said Bedard would score 39 goals and 78 points as a rookie and then he failed to reach that level? Or when I corrected pointed out that he's not a Crosby/McDavid level talent?

 

[MXD]

I the cutrent environment, what would people have given Tyler Myers after his rookie season? 11-37-48, Calder Trophy, 19 years old, etc.

What made Tyler Myers and Dion Phaneuf great as rookie isn't what made Faber great as a rookie.

Also, Phaneuf at 8M in the current financial environment after his 2005-06 season wouldn't even have been terrible. It may also have prevented his 7X7 deal awarded by the Leafs in 2014.

 

[ThatGuy22]

So did Jeff Skinner

?
Skinner had two full seasons under his belt when he signed his first extension with Carolina, scoring 31 and 20 goals (paced for 25). Than Paced for 25 in the last year of his ELC in the lockout shortened season.