ST. PAUL - A giddy Sammy Walker stood in his stall after the Wild's morning skate, excited for the opportunity to play with the Wild for his tenth career NHL game. His best friend, Brock Faber looked over at Walker and said, "he deserves to be here."
Walker, 24, was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. He went on to play all four years at the University of Minnesota where he wore the 'C' on his jersey for three seasons.
Faber, 21, was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings with the 45th overall pick in the 2020 draft. Faber went on to play three years with the Gophers, two with Walker, and then was traded by the Kings to the Wild before his senior year. Faber ended up signing with the Wild instead of returning for his senior year and hasn't looked out of place at all.
After the Wild's training camp concluded the Wild eventually sent Walker down to the AHL to play for the Iowa Wild. Walker had a great camp and preseason where he notched two goals and two assists in just three games.
"Obviously excited to have him here," Wild head coach Dean Evason said on Walker. "He had a great camp and we are looking forward to having him in our lineup."
The Wild lost Matt Boldy to an injury in game two of the regular season which opened a spot for Walker. The speedy forward will get the chance to replace Boldy on the Wild's second line with Marcus Johansson and Joel Eriksson Ek.
"They're unbelievable players," Walker said on Johansson and Eriksson Ek. "I'm just going to use my speed, get open for them, and bring the energy."
After playing four years with the Gophers and two with Faber, Walker is excited for the opportunity to play with Faber at home for the first time in their careers.
They have played one NHL game together in their careers and it came in Nashville last year when the Wild tried to rest some of their players before the playoffs. So, tonight will mark the first-ever home game where both of them will play together in front of many friends and family.
"He's one of my best buddies," Walker said on Faber. "It's always fun to have the opportunity to play with him, it should be fun tonight"
Faber added: "We are all happy for him, he deserves to be here. He's a fantastic person, teammate, and player too. It'll be great. We lived together over the summer so it will be fun to suit up together at home."
Living together over the off-season was a crazy experience for both Walker and Faber and there wasn't much cooking involved. Walker joked on day one of training camp that he is a better pickleball player than Faber but Brock is the better golfer. Faber joked that there were a lot of Chipotle runs and little cooking.
The two are the same off the ice as they are on the ice. Walker plays a fast style of hockey where he always wants the puck and uses his speed to disrupt plays and create offense.
Even though they play different positions, they still play the same. Faber moves very well and always wants to take the puck away from you which maybe he learned a little bit of by playing against Walker throughout the years.
"He's extremely fast and a skilled player," Faber said on defending Walker. "He's a lot to handle so it's fun competing against him. Every time he's been here, he's proven he can play at this level and his speed proves that."
The two former Gopher stars played 59 games together across two seasons for Minnesota and will now play in their second-ever NHL game together and their first home game in the state they both grew up in.
Faber has played 11 NHL games in his career including the six games he played for the Wild last season in the playoffs against the Dallas Stars. In those 11 games, Faber has been on the ice for one goal against and it was a power-play goal against Toronto last Saturday.
To put that in perspective, the Wild have allowed 37 goals in that span. Faber has also picked up one goal and one assist along with 21 blocked shots.
Walker has played nine games in his NHL career and also has one goal and one assist. He has shown how effective his speed can be at the NHL level. Both Faber and Walker believe he can be an asset for the Wild for a long time and Walker hopes to prove that tonight against the Kings.