The Minnesota Wild received a major blow before the start of their season, with top-pair defenseman Brock Faber sidelined indefinitely following surgery after fracturing his skull.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported Tuesday that Faber suffered the fracture when a deflected Miro Heiskanen shot struck his head during Friday’s preseason finale against the Dallas Stars.
The defenseman ultimately underwent surgery on Sunday and is recovering at home, according to Wild general manager Bill Guerin.
“He just had a serious surgery and an injury, so we’re just gonna update you guys when the time’s right,” Guerin said. “But he’s doing well. He’s doing really well, which is good news. And we’ll just follow the doctors’ leads.”
Faber remained in the game after falling to the ice when the puck struck him near the left ear hole of his helmet. He skated to the bench under his own power, stayed out briefly, and came back to play three more shifts before Minnesota pulled him in the third period and took him to the hospital.
Asked why the Wild training staff didn’t immediately remove Faber, Guerin said the severity of the injury wasn’t apparent at the time.
“Yeah… there wasn’t… You know, it just didn’t… he seemed OK,” Guerin said. “As things progressed, we had to pull him.”
Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The 24-year-old recorded career highs of 15 goals and 51 points in 80 games last season while averaging 24:41 of ice time, the 14th-highest mark in the NHL.
When healthy, Minnesota is expected to use him on its top defensive pair alongside Quinn Hughes, but that will have to wait for now.
The Wild open their season Thursday against the Nashville Predators on the road, with puck-drop scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
