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

[P10p]

So many people here have clearly never watched a Wild game but feel entitled to offer an uninformed opinion

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Waiting another year is a valid argument. But if they wanted to do it right now, and they clearly did, then the contract is unquestionably within recent precedent.

 

[bland]

There’s even less information about Faber potential to warrant giving him such a crazy contract by term and AAV

Only if you haven't been paying attention.

Three years ago I was arguing on a near daily basis with my fellow fans about Faber being the Kings top prospect, as untouchable as it should get. I lost my mud when our dimwitted GM traded him for a 2nd liner, and it took a while for that to sink in on our board.

Faber is a modern day Scott Niedermayer. Flawless reads, spectacular mobility, every intangible you could ask for - he controls the game when he is on the ice in the same way Niedermayer and Lidstrom could. If you are lucky enough to draft a player like that, you do your best to keep them forever. You don't piss them away because you want a cheap fix for your own inability to develop scoring forwards, especially on a guy who cannot play with other top forwards like Fiala.

 

[MCB]

Good deal, I'm jealous.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

One reason they may have been extra motivated to get a deal done early, Brock Faber agreed to not take B level bonuses on his ELC when he signed it, he would have fulfilled the requirement last year (top 10 in D ice time) and earned an extra $2MM that would have also applied to the Wild's cap this year. If he had accomplished that same feat in the upcoming season with the Wild, his agent would be clamoring about the time value of the $4MM in cash they shortchanged him.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Not enough UFA years for that to be realistic.
Also, while he projects in the top tier in terms of defending and transition, he doesn't have the tools to be a top offensive producer.

He had 47 points his rookie year! Drew Doughty has never exceeded 60 points.

If he’s putting up even slightly bigger offensive numbers then that and continuing to improve his overall game, he would be worth a ton of money.

 

[Faceboner]

Guy had an absolutely fantastic season but I don’t know if I would hand out a contract like that after just one season. What would be the downside of waiting until after this season? It’s not like he’s gonna score enough to merit more than $8.5M…

Cap going up and if he improves he probably puts himself into the 11-12m range with rising cap

 

[Juxtaposer]

Cap going up and if he improves he probably puts himself into the 11-12m range with rising cap

Yeah, Brock Faber doesn’t get $11M unless he’s a top-3 defenseman in the entire NHL. He’s not that.

 

[n8]

Doughty’s contract was 10.89% of the cap. That’s $9,580,093 today. Faber’s contract is 9.66%. If you are going to compare the two at least do it right.

Why should I do the math when I've got you to count on? Whose number is higher is not important. The fact that the numbers are in the same range is the main point. Your cap% numbers help the point I'm making. I won't pretend like I know Faber's game nearly as good as most of the people here. But if you were to tell me "This Faber kid is going to be as good as Doughty" can you understand my level of doubt? That's a tall tall order to live up to. Yeah his cap % is lower but it's still up there. Can I express this doubt without an army of keyboard warriors Tiktok dancing all over my post?

Great to know Faber plays great defense but he's gonna still need to put up those numbers.

Curious if anyone knows the highest paid defenseman who didn't put up the points but was still worth their AAV?

Considering nothing but points to justify a contract for a d man, great take lol...

Not reading my post is a great take. Not adding anything to the conversation is a great take. It's not just numbers. I'm also talking about how Drew Doughty has a comparable contract in terms of how early he signed the extension and similar cap%. A sensible response would be "hey, did you consider these other players that I think are better comparable in terms of production, expectation, and contract size?"

 

[andora]

This guy is real along with sanderson

 

[ThatGuy22]

Key word there being season (singular, not plural).

Sanderson has been better every season of their careers before this one, and not be a small amount either.

Faber could very well justify this contract, but given he's never shown significant offensive potential besides this year, there's some risk involved

At least Sanderson put up really good numbers in previous years to justify his 8x8 deal.

There is more to playing D than points scored...(which on the NHL Faber has the best season).

Luckily, they've been on the same team multiple times.

2022 Olympics, Faber played 24 minutes a game and Sanderson 16. Clearly someone thought Faber was better.

When they were on the USNDTP U17 team together, Faber got a cup of coffee with the highest level team USNDTP has (U18), Sanderson didn't.

Can't really find TOI stats for the other tourney they been in together, but probably find more of the same.

So he wasn't Clearly better obviously.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Waiting another year is a valid argument. But if they wanted to do it right now, and they clearly did, then the contract is unquestionably within recent precedent.

There is value in getting this done now, and not having to worry about Faber and Kaprizov next offseason.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Why should I do the math when I've got you to count on? Whose number is higher is not important. The fact that the numbers are in the same range is the main point. Your cap% numbers help the point I'm making. I won't pretend like I know Faber's game nearly as good as most of the people here. But if you were to tell me "This Faber kid is going to be as good as Doughty" can you understand my level of doubt? That's a tall tall order to live up to. Yeah his cap % is lower but it's still up there. Can I express this doubt without an army of keyboard warriors Tiktok dancing all over my post?

Great to know Faber plays great defense but he's gonna still need to put up those numbers.

Curious if anyone knows the highest paid defenseman who didn't put up the points but was still worth their AAV?

Not reading my post is a great take. Not adding anything to the conversation is a great take. It's not just numbers. I'm also talking about how Drew Doughty has a comparable contract in terms of how early he signed the extension and similar cap%. A sensible response would be "hey, did you consider these other players that I think are better comparable in terms of production, expectation, and contract size?"

But he did put up the points. Near 50 of them. 23rd in the league. And a heck of a lot of those ahead of him don't hold a candle to him defensively. Even as a rookie.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Anybody have advanced stats on this kid that show he's great defensively?

His corsi isn't great, his giveaway takeaway ratio isn't great, his expected goals for/against isn't great...

Anybody have more info as somebody who has only seen him in about 10 games and wasn't super impressed? He was average in what I saw but that could be a poor sample in that size.

Are we building him up as the next great defensemen like they did Sanderson when he signed?

 

[Bouboumaster]

Could turn out to be a solid deal in the future, if everything goes well

 

[Bonin21]

Yeah, Brock Faber doesn’t get $11M unless he’s a top-3 defenseman in the entire NHL. He’s not that.

Top 10 D in the league during this contract is a real chance.

 

[TS Quint]

Why should I do the math when I've got you to count on? Whose number is higher is not important. The fact that the numbers are in the same range is the main point. Your cap% numbers help the point I'm making. I won't pretend like I know Faber's game nearly as good as most of the people here. But if you were to tell me "This Faber kid is going to be as good as Doughty" can you understand my level of doubt? That's a tall tall order to live up to. Yeah his cap % is lower but it's still up there. Can I express this doubt without an army of keyboard warriors Tiktok dancing all over my post?

Great to know Faber plays great defense but he's gonna still need to put up those numbers.

Curious if anyone knows the highest paid defenseman who didn't put up the points but was still worth their AAV?

Not reading my post is a great take. Not adding anything to the conversation is a great take. It's not just numbers. I'm also talking about how Drew Doughty has a comparable contract in terms of how early he signed the extension and similar cap%. A sensible response would be "hey, did you consider these other players that I think are better comparable in terms of production, expectation, and contract size?"

Do better.

 

[MK9]

People said the same about Kaprizov

They also said he was cooked after slow starting last season. And uh...well, we all saw what happened later on. Not so cooked.

 

[LeProspector]

I remember the people who thought LA fleeced Minnesota for Fiala. Those people shouldn’t judge a trade on what their favourite YouTuber says.

 

[Fatass]

8.5 or 11 for Dahlin? Lots of young D getting paid big dollars.

 

[kcunac]

I also think it is a risk after only one season but it could pay off. Kid looks legit.

 

[67 others]

Might be amazing by year 2.

Or it could be Darnell Nurse lol

 

[ThatGuy22]

Anybody have advanced stats on this kid that show he's great defensively?

His corsi isn't great, his giveaway takeaway ratio isn't great, his expected goals for/against isn't great...

Anybody have more info as somebody who has only seen him in about 10 games and wasn't super impressed? He was average in what I saw but that could be a poor sample in that size.

Are we building him up as the next great defensemen like they did Sanderson when he signed?

The first half season numbers were great, combined with eye test. They did tail off a bit as the season wore on, which is not unheard of for NCAA players playing their first 82 game season, let alone one playing 25+ minutes a night with Spurgeon out.

Additionally, he played last 2 months of the season with broken ribs, which surely impacted his final numbers.

Then there are the external factors like the role he was thrust into as a rookie, is pretty close to unprecedented. Getting all the high leverage situations against top line comp, with a weak supporting cast due to injuries.

But if your looking for a specific example, Dom's model at the Athletic grades him well above average defensively. Broken down into the individual complements, he excelled at the expected goals against metric, in the top 10%, but had middling numbers in the actual results, and got hammered in his PK component(both impacted much more by team, specifically our goaltending was trash).

 

[pfunk]

Or it could be Darnell Nurse lol

Sure, Faber could drop off some and there is always some risk. But I’d be absolutely shocked if he looked anything less than a 7 million dollar defenseman in a few years. The first time I watched him playing you could see he had ‘it’. Incredible skater, not real big but plays bigger than he is, really good positioning and rarely makes a poor read, and incredible poise for a young kid. I think the odds are much, much higher that this becomes a steal than an anchor. As a Wild fan I am thrilled we took a chance like this, even moreso than I was with the Boldy deal and that is looking like a good one too.

 

[Devilsfan118]

I don't see a scenario where a player like Faber turns into a 4-5m player.

Downside is probably like a 7M guy, upside is north of 10M. I think it's more likely that he's worth more than 8.5 than less over the term of this contract.

Based on his play last year he's probably worth $9M+. He was a #1 defenseman.

I'd have to look back, but I wonder if folks were saying the same thing about Seth Jones and Darnell Nurse when they signed their deals that are now universally hated.