Brock Faber momentarily took over the Calder Trophy conversation during Bedard's injury absence, but that quickly faded once Bedard returned. However, that should not discredit the solid rookie campaign that Faber has amassed.
There’s no doubt: Brock Faber has been a crucial difference-maker for the Minnesota Wild this season.
But history suggests that his supporters have a near-impossible road ahead as they try to swing the Calder Trophy voting away from Connor Bedard and over to their homegrown hero.
In mid-February, THN’s Wild site editor, Dylan Loucks, declared that Faber deserved the Calder and said, “it’s not even close.” He cited the 21-year-old’s impressive offensive numbers as well as his strong underlying metrics on the defensive side of the puck.
At the time, Faber’s 33 points had him tied with Bedard atop the rookie points race. But on Feb. 15, Bedard returned to action after missing 14 games with a fractured jaw.
In the six weeks since, he has out-pointed Faber 24-8, building himself a 16-point cushion.
In February, the Wild were also making a move up the standings, getting within two points of a playoff spot. As recently as March 19, they were just three points out.
But Minnesota has earned just three points in its last four games. The Wild are now eight points behind the Los Angeles Kings, with just nine games left to play.
That also hurts Faber’s Calder case.
He had been earning praise for keeping Minnesota in the mix while playing a larger-than-typical role for a rookie defenseman. Injuries have limited Wild captain Jared Spurgeon to just 16 games this year and defenseman Jonas Brodin has also missed 20 games.
Playing on Minnesota’s top pairing and on both the power play and penalty kill, Faber is in the top 10 in average ice time in the entire league, averaging 25:03 per game and keeping company with players like Charlie McAvoy and Noah Dobson.
When the Wild traded Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings during the summer of 2022, they were thrilled to be able to bring back a first-round pick and Faber, a native of Maple Grove, Minn. who played three years at the University of Minnesota before turning pro.
But no one expected the studious-looking kid with the big glasses to be so impactful, so quickly. The Kings originally drafted him at No. 45 in 2020.
When it comes to Calder voting, recent history suggests that voters tend to start their analysis by looking at the highest-scoring rookie, then see if anyone else might stack up.
In the last 10 years, the leading rookie scorer has taken home the award seven times:
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Defensemen won the award in the other three years:
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Like Makar, Faber made his NHL debut in the playoffs, in the year before his rookie season. He immediately made a strong impression last spring. But he didn’t put up any points, and the Minnesota Wild were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Stars.
But unlike Seider, Makar or Ekblad, Faber faces fierce competition in the form of Bedard, whose profile fits most voters' Calder requirements almost perfectly. He's a high-scoring first-overall pick who plays center, and who jumped straight into the league at 18. He also sells tickets wherever he goes and has instantly become one of the marquee faces of the NHL.
For a time, Bedard’s injury looked like it could derail his Calder momentum. But he only missed 14 games — far fewer than the 37 missed games that led to a third-place Calder finish for Connor McDavid in 2016.
And while the Chicago Blackhawks fell out of contention early and aren’t drawing as many eyeballs these days, they finished the month of March with a winning record of 7-6-0.
Bedard’s numbers have actually improved since he came back from his injury:
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Yes, his minus-39 for the year is not a pretty sight. But it’s important to consider the players around him as well. The Blackhawks finished with a team goal differential of minus-97 in 2022-23. This year, they’re right back in the same ballpark, at minus-95.
Even if Faber doesn’t garner the necessary support to claim the Calder, that's no slight against what he’ll be able to accomplish as his career progresses. Makar is the only Norris Trophy winner in the last decade who was also named rookie of the year.
Here’s where the Norris winners from the last decade ranked in Calder balloting in their rookie years:
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As that list suggests, plenty of Calder winners go on to have great careers while many, many others need a little more time before they start to earn the recognition they deserve.
At this stage, it's a major accomplishment for Faber to have made himself a crucial part of this year's top-rookie conversation.