26 March 2024
Even if the Wild’s pursuit of a Western Conference playoff spot comes up empty, this season has had its share of bright spots, including the team’s general improvement since a late-November coaching change to Marc-Andre Fleury chasing and catching NHL history.
And don’t forget Brock Faber and Marco Rossi, who have played so much and so well this season that it’s easy to forget they’re playing their first full NHL seasons.
With 11 regular-season games remaining, Faber ranks second in rookie points (40), Rossi ranks second in rookie goals (20), each trailing Chicago’s Connor Bedard — the No. 1 overall pick in last summer’s entry draft. And if they take their regular spots in the lineup on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks in a 7 p.m. puck drop at Xcel Energy Center, Faber and Rossi will remain on pace to be the first Wild rookies to play a full 82-game season.
Rossi already ranks second in goals by a rookie, two more in 71 games than Marian Gaborik, the franchise’s first draft pick, scored in 71 games in 2000-01. And Faber has demolished the franchise rookie mark for assists, set last year by Calen Addison, with 33.
“For your team moving forward, that’s certainly something that has to happen,” coach John Hynes said. “Particularly in the salary cap era where you have to be able to have young guys come into your lineup — lots of times, on entry level contracts.”
In last Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis, the Wild played four rookies — Faber, Rossi, Marat Khusnutdinov and Adam Beckman. Rossi had two goals, Faber the tying goal in the third and an assist.
“To have younger players in your lineup and play important roles, and not only just play but be real productive players for you, it’s certainly good for them as individuals and their confidence levels as players,” Hynes said.
Minnesota has struggled to get over the hump in its pursuit of a fourth straight postseason appearance — counting the abridged 2020 COVID season — but still has a pulse, six points behind eighth-place Vegas before Monday night’s games. It’s a faint pulse, but it’s a pulse — especially with two more games against Vegas on the schedule, starting Saturday at the X.
But even if the Wild call short, there are reasons to feel good about the future, such as the team’s 29-18-5 record since Hynes replaced Dean Evason as coach on Nov. 28. And Faber and Rossi, both of whom are on the books for less than $1 million next season, bargains for a team that will still be dealing with $14.7 million in dead cap space from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.
Rossi won’t catch Kirill Kaprizov’s rookie goals record of 27, but he’s only the second Wild rookie to score 20 goals in a season with the two he scored last Saturday against St. Louis.
Asked about the accomplishment, Rossi said, “If we would have won the game it would be different. Yeah, it’s nice. I try to help the team.”
Faber won’t catch his rookie points record of 55, the former Gophers star has been nothing short of a revelation — a big, responsible defenseman who runs the top power play unit and already displays the maturity that makes players a captain.
“He’s mature in a lot of ways,” Hynes said. “I think he’s physically mature, to be able to play the way that he plays and handle the situations he’s been in this year as a first-year pro, but I also think when I talk to him, I think he’s a great teammate. He’s coachable. He’s accountable to himself, but he’s also accountable I think to the team game.
“It’s hard to find … that combination sometimes as a young guy, but he has it.”