Marc-André Fleury will occupy all the media space on Tuesday during the Wild’s visit to the Bell Centre, not without good reason, since it will undoubtedly be his last career game in Montreal, but in Minnesota, the big story is elsewhere.
We’re excited about a young 21-year-old right-handed defender, Brock Faber, a local product, born in Maple Grove, located less than an hour from the Xcel Energy Center, and who, after two years in the American development program , made the jump to the University of Minnesota.
Two games don’t make a season, you might rightly say, but Faber is not only the team’s best scorer with two points, but the most used after Jonas Brodin at 22:58.
Against Toronto on Saturday, in his ninth career NHL game, Faber played 24:23, maintained a 69% expected goals rate even though he was regularly pitted against Matthews, Marner and company, in a 7-game loss. -4.
“Brock Faber can’t be our best player every game,” coach Dean Evason said after the game. It’s fantastic that he is, but others have to do their part in the absence of (our defenseman) Jared Spurgeon. »
It took a lot of guts on the part of general manager Bill Guerin to acquire this young man on June 29, 2022. At the time of the trade, Faber had just finished his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota, where he had 14 points, including 2 goals, in 32 games.
Guerin had just decided to trade his best scorer, 26-year-old Kevin Fiala, to the Los Angeles Kings, with a season of 85 points, including 33 goals. It takes a certain amount of guts, let’s face it, to let go of such a points producer when you’re aiming for a place in the playoffs year after year.
But the Wild CEO and his financial analysts saw the state of the salary cap, and Fiala’s complete autonomy, looming two years later, and the indicators were turning red.
Los Angeles was quick to offer Fiala a seven-year contract for 55 million, at an annual salary of 7.8 million, a no-movement clause during the first four years and a partial clause of no exchange from 2026.
Fiala did not disappoint his new employers with a season of 72 points in 69 games. He’s also starting the year well with three assists after two games, even though the Kings haven’t won yet.
The Wild obviously suffered a short-term hit from the loss of Fiala. He amassed ten fewer points in the standings, scored 66 fewer goals, but also conceded 30 fewer, finished third in his section instead of second and suffered a defeat in the first round of the playoffs, in six games, like the previous year (against the Blues in 2022 and the Stars in 2023).
In addition to Faber, the Minnesota club received a 2022 first-round pick from the Kings, 19th overall. They drafted one of three available Swedish gems, winger Liam Öhgren. This young man, aged 19 since January, had a promising season at Djurgardens, in the second division, with his two other compatriots chosen in the first round, Noah Östlund and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, amassing 20 points, including 11 goals, in 36 games, and 13 points, including 8 goals, in 17 playoff games.
Like his two companions, Öhgren was loaned to a first division club this season (Farjestads for Öhgren, Växjö for Östlund and Örebro in the case of Lekkerimaki), but an injury delayed his arrival on the scene. He crossed the Atlantic to be examined by Wild doctors and recently started training again with his Swedish club.
Not only does young Matthew Poitras seem to belong in the NHL at just 19 years old, he has just been promoted. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery placed him at center with Brad Marchand and Morgan Geekie during Monday’s practice.
Poitras, a 2022 second-round pick, played in the first two games between Geekie and Trent Frederic. Boston beat the Blackhawks 3-1 and the Nashville Predators 3-2 and Poitras had an assist in just under 15 minutes of player time in each game.
“He’s an extraordinary little player,” Marchand told reporters Monday. He is very intelligent, very gifted, excellent at finding open spaces with the puck. To play with such confidence at such a young age is impressive. Above all, he succeeds in doing this in each meeting. You have to be consistent at such a level with the number of matches, training sessions and trips, it can become very hard on the body if you are not used to it. »
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