Brock Faber Out Indefinitely With Fractured Skull Because Preseason Hockey is a Menace
Daily Faceoff reported Faber underwent surgery for a fractured skull and has no timetable for return.
Hockey players are famous for playing through things that would put a normal person in bed for a month, but a fractured skull is where even the NHL has to draw the line.
The announced that star defenseman underwent surgery to repair a fractured skull after taking a puck to the head in a preseason game against the . He has officially been placed on injured reserve and is out indefinitely, is exactly the kind of vague timeline you expect when dealing with a literal head injury.
Losing your top defenseman to a stray puck in a game that does not count is the kind of bad beat that makes you want to simulate the rest of the preseason. The exhibition schedule is supposed to be about getting your legs back, not losing foundational pieces of your franchise to freak accidents.
Faber is not just a guy eating minutes on the third pairing. The 24-year-old is the engine of the blue line, coming off a massive 2025-26 campaign where he dropped 51 points in 80 games. He was logging around 25 minutes a night and thriving alongside Quinn Hughes on the top pair.
If you are holding a fantasy draft this weekend or looking at 's early-season futures, it is time to pivot. You cannot just replace a guy who anchors the defense with a call-up and hope nobody notices, especially since the Wild are already starting the year without goaltender Filip Gustavsson due to hip surgery.
opens the regular season against the on October 1. Until Faber is cleared to return to the ice, the are going to have to figure out how to survive in the Central Division with a defensive structure currently held together by duct tape and good vibes.