Want to get Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold in a good mood after his team missed the playoffs this spring for the first time since 2019 and only the second time in the last 12 years?
Then ask him about Maple Grove native, former Gopher and budding star Brock Faber. Playing in his first full season for the Wild, the young defenseman finished tied for second among NHL rookies with 47 points (eight goals, 39 assists) while leading first-year players in average time on the ice per game (24:58) and season (2,047:53). In 82 games Faber ranked first in blocked shots (150), tied for first in assists (39), third in power-play assists (13), third in power-play points (16), tied for sixth in power-play goals (three) and eighth in shots on goal (136).
“Oh, my God. He’s a stud,” Leipold told Sports Headliners. “He’s a great player. He played with some injuries at the end of the year that nobody had any idea (it was happening). He’s a smart player, very cerebral on the ice. Every team in the league would love to get their hands on Brock. That will never happen.”
Injuries to other defensemen presented increased playing time last season and Leipold said the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Minnesotan responded in a way “we weren’t expecting.” The Wild owner since 2008 thinks next season will be even better for Faber, including because he will be able to team with a veteran defenseman in either 30-year-old Jonas Brodin or 34-year-old Jared Spurgeon.
Leipold gushes about Faber for both his talent and character. “He’s just a wonderful kid and people love him in the locker room. He is so respectful. …He’s only 21 but he has the maturity and the presence of a player that’s been in our team and in our league for a lot longer than just one year.”
The Wild, with Wild GM Bill Guerin making a savvy trade in June of 2022 to acquire Faber, has him under contract through next season. Even after that he would be a restricted free agent allowing Minnesota to match any offer from another team. Speculation is Minnesota, could extend control this offseason by negotiating a new deal possibly paying more than $9 million per season.
That compensation would top Kirill Kaprizov’s reported five-year deal averaging $9 million per season. The NHL All-Star forward has two years remaining on his contract and the electric scorer is a player Wild fans fret about him becoming an unrestricted free agent.
The Wild can’t negotiate with the 27-year-old Kaprizov until the next offseason. In his first four seasons with Minnesota, the team has yet to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs and it’s expected playing on a winning team will be a factor in a decision regarding a new deal.
“He’s just like the owner (about winning). You know, I am not happy where we are,” Leipold said. “You know we had no luck last year. But we didn’t play particularly well to overcome some of the bad injury issues.
“So, everything about that is on the table and I think everyone of our players, not just Kirill, but they all want to see a path they can look at and feel confident that we have the right hockey operations with the right strategy to get us back into the playoffs. And frankly, just being in the playoffs is not good enough.”
Earlier in the month Leipold, Guerin and other decision makers met in the Bahamas for the club’s annual offseason planning meeting. Leipold described the gathering as one where “everything was on the table.” That included a three-year plan where the brain trust looks forward to next offseason when the Wild frees itself from reportedly $14.7 million in dead salary cap space from the payroll—the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.
Asked about key things that need to change for the Wild to improve on last season’s team that won five more games than it lost, Leipold first mentioned the penalty kill, describing it “as bad as it’s ever been.” He also said: “Our faceoffs are not good. They haven’t been good for years.”
Scoring has long been an issue for Minnesota and Leipold said the offense was “great” by the first line, okay from the second, but the third and fourth under performed. He expects Guerin to address scoring in the offseason, hinting at a move that perhaps will be made outside the organization.
Goal tending, mediocre last season, is another roster issue intriguing fans in the offseason and for next fall and winter. Veterans Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson, and hyped prospect Jesper Wallstedt are in the mix, with Leipold predicting the team could start the season with all three on the roster. “Specifically, what we do with our goal tending is still up in the air,” Leipold said.
The Wild will head into training camp in September with John Hynes beginning his first full camp and season as head coach. He took over a slumping Wild team late in November, replacing the fired Dean Evason.
Was Leipold caught off guard when Guerin told him he wanted to change coaches? “No, I wasn’t surprised. I really like Dean and so does Billy. We needed to shake up the team and you can’t move 22, 23 players. You can’t fire 23 players. We made a move at coaching in hopes that that would shake them up. It did. So, we accomplished what we wanted to but the hole was a little deep and we couldn’t get out of it.”
Leipold said he and Guerin gave Hynes “a really high grade” for his first time leading the Wild, a team that was plagued by injuries. Leipold described Hynes as a strategic thinker, a coach who is willing to do things differently and is liked by the players.
And, oh, yes, there is another way to keep Leipold in an upbeat mood following a season he didn’t like. Ask him about the franchise’s season tickets renewal. He reports a 90 percent renewal figure, describing it as an “extraordinary rate” and a testament to the “State of Hockey.”
Gophers-Tommies Building Hockey Rivalry
The Golden Gophers won their hockey series with St. Thomas last October and it was announced today the developing rivalry will continue in 2024 as part of nonconference scheduling for the programs. The Tommies will play Minnesota on October 25 at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The two teams meet again October 26 at Xcel Energy Center.
The Tommies, who transitioned from Division III to Division I hockey in 2021, have an improving program. They played the Gophers in an instant classic overtime at Xcel Energy Center last season, losing 6-5 before an announced crowd of more than 11,000. The next evening (October 14) Minnesota won at home 3-0.
The Gophers announced their complete nonconference schedule today as the program enters its 104th season. The schedule begins October 11 and 12 with the Gophers hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Minnesota opens the tourney against Air Force Academy on October 11 and continues October 12 against either Omaha or UMass.
More at https://gophersports.com/news/2024/5/28/mens-hockey-gophers-release-2024-25-non-conference-schedule.