- The Wild placed Filip Gustavsson and Brock Faber on injured reserve ahead of opening night
- One of them could be back within a week, the other is looking at a much longer wait
- Read below for full details on Minnesota’s opening-night roster and goalie plan
The Wild will open the season without their No. 1 defenseman or their veteran goalie.
Minnesota placed Filip Gustavsson and Brock Faber on injured reserve Monday as it set its 23-man roster for opening night. Gustavsson is still working back from offseason hip surgery. Faber hasn’t played since taking a puck to the head in Friday’s preseason finale against Dallas.
Gustavsson’s absence is the longer one. Bill Guerin said this summer on SKOR North that his goalie could be available within the first month or two of the season, which puts November as the earliest realistic target.
That timeline has been murky since May. Guerin first announced the surgery at his end-of-season press conference, and even then he couldn’t promise Gustavsson would be ready for the start of the year:
It’s the worst possible start to the five-year, $34 million deal Gustavsson signed last October. The new $6.8 million cap hit kicks in this season. He went 28-15-6 with a .904 save percentage in 50 games last year but played just once in Minnesota’s 11 playoff games.
Jesper Wallstedt takes the net in the meantime. Calvin Pickard, who signed a one-year deal in July, is his backup.
Faber’s stay should be a lot shorter. Minnesota made the move retroactive to Friday’s game, and players on IR have to sit at least seven days. So he’ll miss Thursday’s opener in Nashville, but he’s eligible for Saturday’s home opener against Boston if he’s cleared.
Nobody’s rushing him back since the puck caught him late in the second period against the Stars. He came back for one more shift, then sat out the third. John Hynes didn’t have much to offer after the game:
Losing Faber for even one game hurts. The 24-year-old put up 15 goals and 51 points in 80 games last season and plays next to Quinn Hughes on the top pair.
Seven defensemen made the opening-night roster: Hughes, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Olli Maatta, Zach Bogosian, Daemon Hunt and David Spacek. Rookie forward Charlie Stramel cracked the lineup up front.
Faber could be back by Saturday. Gustavsson’s return is still a November conversation.
