Brock Faber, a Wild defenseman, acknowledges he struggled offensively in college due to a fear of making mistakes. Playing alongside Quinn Hughes has helped him unlock his offensive potential.
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If he were to give a scouting report on himself coming out of college, Wild defenseman Brock Faber would be the first to admit he wasn’t much of a scoring threat with the Gophers.
He couldn’t get himself to take some of the chances required to produce. He was too busy thinking about what might happen if he ever got caught out of position.
“I would sit back and try to not get scored on,” Faber said. “I wouldn’t do much offensively at all, because I hated getting scored on.”
That mentality was almost reaffirmed when he signed a contract with the Wild. It felt like every mistake he made would end up in the back of the net. He almost avoided taking risks altogether in the early stages of his career.
“I hate that,” Faber said. “Just that I directly impacted our team negatively by giving up a goal.”
Though he slowly started to get better at giving himself more grace as he gained confidence, Faber’s mindset noticeably shifted after the Wild made the blockbuster trade with Vancouver for star defenseman Quinn Hughes.
It has seemingly awakened something inside Faber as he has steadily become somebody who can drive offense for the Wild every time he hops over the boards.
He’s confident enough in himself to know that if he makes a mistake he’s more than capable of making up for it. No longer is he thinking about the worse case scenario if he decides to take a calculated risk.
“There are times and places for it,” Faber said. “I’ve really learned a lot about noticing when there are opportunities to jump and when there are opportunities to push.”
That has especially been on display over the past couple of weeks as Faber has taken his game to the next level offensively in the playoffs. He has a trio of goals and a pair of assists for the Wild in their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.
“He’s a heck of a hockey player,” Hughes said. “He’s just going to continue to grow as he gets more confident.”
It’s probably not a coincidence that Faber has been at his best while playing alongside Hughes. He had 36 points (9 goals, 27 assists) in the 48 games they played together during the regular season.
“Who wouldn’t it help?” veteran winger Marcus Johansson smiled. “They’ve been unbelievable together. It’s fun to see him grow into who he’s becoming. The confidence he’s playing with is fun to watch.”
Playing with Quinn Hughes has helped Brock Faber improve his offensive game by encouraging him to take more risks.
Brock Faber admitted he wasn't much of a scoring threat during his time with the Gophers, often prioritizing defense over offense.
Faber faced challenges in his early NHL career due to a fear of making mistakes, which led him to avoid taking offensive risks.
Faber's mindset in college was focused on not getting scored on, which limited his offensive contributions.
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Asked if playing with Hughes has made him more aggressive on the ice, Faber smiled, paused for a couple of seconds, then replied, “You almost kind of have to be because of the way he skates.”
That goes for everybody on the blue line.
“I think our whole team feeds off of it,” rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt said. “That’s something I noticed when Quinn got here. He brings that extra dimension. I think the rest of our defensemen felt that and tried to implement that into their game as well.”
That aggressiveness that Faber has incorporated into his game has resulted in him looking a lot like Hughes does when the puck is on his stick. Just look at the goals Faber has scored so far in the playoffs.
There was a goal during which he tracked down a loose puck, made a power move toward the middle, then roofed a shot top shelf in close quarters. There was a goal during which he jumped up into the play, worked his way into the high slot and uncorked a shot into the upper corner. There was a goal during which he controlled a pass at the point, ate up the open ice in front of him, and fired a shot that deflected off a defender and fluttered into the back of the net.
It’s fair to wonder if Faber would’ve tried any of that before playing with Hughes.
“Whether it’s on the rush or in the offensive zone or scaling the line to be able to beat a defender and get his shot through, Brock’s skating is a weapon, and he has learned how to use it,” head coach John Hynes said. “I also think playing with Quinn and the relationship that those guys have and seeing some of the things that Quinn sees and seeing those guys communicate with each other has certainly helped.”
The fact that Faber and Hughes might just be scratching the surface as defensive partners should put the rest of the league on notice. They already have built a chemistry that should only grow with more time together.
“That will continue to get better and better,” Hughes said. “We’ve done a really good job at that in a short amount of time.”
All the while, Faber has slowly turned himself into a somebody who plays the game like Hughes. He’s not he afraid to pinch up in the play if the moment calls for it. He’s willing to take his chances here and there and live with the results
“He’s so much fun to play with,” Faber said. “We’re just going to try to keep growing together.”