Brock Faber is inching closer to a return, and Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes says the defenseman has already cleared return-to-play protocol.
The next step is less about medical clearance and more about rebuilding the kind of conditioning that only comes from being on the ice. Hynes told Michael Russo of The Athletic that Faber still needs to get into game shape before he can rejoin teammates, and that the Wild are not planning to force the issue.
“I chatted with John Hynes on Tuesday after his availability, and while he said he still doesn’t have a timeline for Brock Faber’s return, he also indicated it won’t be far, far off in the distance.
He said Faber has essentially been cleared to return to play and now it’s just upping his fitness on a daily basis because he went five weeks without working out or being on the ice.”
Russo also reported that Faber is already in the gym and skating every day, with the final call on when he joins team skating left to Faber and Minnesota’s strength staff. Hynes made it clear the Wild will take this one step at a time. After practice on Saturday, he said “it’s got to be a steady progression” and “it can’t be an overload” because Faber spent so long inactive while recovering.
Faber’s absence has stretched through 16 games since he fractured his skull when a puck struck him in the head during the Sept. 25 preseason finale against the Dallas Stars. He needed surgery, and Minnesota has managed to keep rolling without one of its top defensemen, going 10-3-3 over that stretch.
The workload on the blue line has been heavy. Quinn Hughes has logged 27:44 a night to help carry the load, while Jonas Brodin has also played all 16 games.
Jared Spurgeon and Olli Maatta have handled the rest of the major minutes after both returned from their own injuries in late October. Zach Bogosian, David Spacek and Matt Kiersted have filled in the remaining shifts, and Daemon Hunt appeared in 11 of those games before the Wild waived him.
He is now in Nashville.
Faber’s return would bring back a player coming off the best season of his career. The 24-year-old posted career highs with 15 goals and 51 points in 80 games in 2025-26, along with 36 assists and a plus-18 rating while averaging 24:41 per game. He was even more productive in the playoffs, finishing with 10 points in 11 games and averaging 29:44 on the ice.
Minnesota is on the road tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers at 6 p.m., which will be the 17th game Faber misses. The Wild then return home to face San Jose on Friday and Tampa Bay on Saturday. Whether Faber starts skating with teammates this week could determine if that Sharks game is the first real target on the calendar.
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