Faber deserves the Calder and it's not even close

Wild defenseman Brock Faber deserves the Calder Trophy and it's not close.

What Wild defenseman Brock Faber has done this year in his rookie season is incredible and to be frank, he should win the Calder Trophy and it shouldn't be up for discussion. 

Faber, 21, has four goals and 29 assists this season for 33 points in 52 games. He is on pace for six goals and 46 assists for 52 points this season. There is only one active defenseman in the NHL who had more points in his rookie season. Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks had 45 assists and 53 points in the 2019-20 season.

If he finished with 46 assists, Faber would rank eighth in NHL history for most assists by a defenseman in their rookie season. Phil Housley who is currently in the Hall of Fame had 47 assists in his rookie season. Housley finished with 338 goals, 894 assists, and 1,232 points in 1,495 career games.

It's truly remarkable what kind of season Faber is having this year and each game is just another example of why he should win the Calder Trophy. 

In fact, since January 15th, Faber is second in the NHL among all defensemen in points with 13. He has played ten games in that stretch. His 13 points are more than Cale Makar, Roman Josi, Victor Hedman, and Noah Dobson to name a few. He has one less point than Quinn Hughes who has 14 in his last ten games. 

Since January 6th, Faber has two goals and 17 points and ranks second among all defensemen in that category. Hughes has 19—just more of a reason why Faber should win the Calder Trophy. 

Faber ranks 14th in the NHL in GAR, according to Evolving Hockey, this season and is tied for eighth in WAR among all defensemen in the NHL. GAR stands for Goals Above Replacement and is a metric that attempts to assign a total value to each player, which represents how much that player contributed to their team in a single number.

WAR is Wins Above Replacement and is a metric that attempts to express how much value (or wins) each player contributed to their team's success, expressed as a single number. Faber's GAR and WAR rank ahead of Josi, Adam Fox, Kris Letang, Josh Morrissey, and Devon Toews to name a few.

Faber's GAR and WAR trails only Ottawa's Ridley Greig and Calgary's Connor Zary for the highest in the NHL amongst all rookies. Greig has played 38 games this year with an average time on ice of 14:38. Zary has played 43 games and averages 15:26. Faber has played 52 games and averages 24:59. 

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