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Faber was hit in the head by a shot midway through the second period of Friday's preseason game.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber had surgery Sunday after fracturing his skull in Friday's preseason game against the Dallas Stars.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Tuesday that the surgery was successful and that Faber is doing well. Guerin didn't offer a timetable for Faber's potential return, saying that it would be provided at a later date.
"Brock's a great player," Guerin said. "He's a big player for us, so, yeah, it's always gonna affect your team when guys like that are out, but the biggest thing here is that he's doing well and sometimes you just have to put the hockey aside and worry about the human being, and that's kind of what we're doing here now."
Faber took a puck to his head midway through the second period, but skated off on his own power. He stayed in the game and finished the second period before eventually sitting out the third period.
When asked by The Athletic's Michael Russo why Faber stayed in the game, Guerin said, "He seemed OK." Guerin added, "As things progressed, we had to pull him."
Faber, a Maple Grove native and former University of Minnesota standout, is one of the Wild's most reliable blue liners. The Los Angeles Kings drafted him in the second round of the 2020 draft, but he was traded to Minnesota in 2023 as part of a package that included forward Kevin Fiala. He was called up to the Wild one day after losing in the NCAA national championship, when Quinnipiac defeated the Gophers 3-2 in overtime.
Faber was immediately put into the Wild's lineup and played in six postseason games that year. He's since played in 242 regular-season games with the Wild and 23 total postseason games. He's coming off a career year where he had 15 goals and 36 assists in the regular season, and another four goals and six assists in the playoffs.
"He's a son, he's a brother, he's got a girlfriend," Guerin said. "These people care about him, so we've got to worry about the human being right now and not the lineup."
Minnesota begins the regular season Thursday on the road against Nashville, before hosting Boston on Saturday for their home opener.
