In two games between their teams this season, Wild rookie defenseman Brock Faber has been victorious against Blackhawks rookie forward Connor Bedard both times.
In the Wild’s 4-0 victory Sunday, Bedard was held to zero points and one shot in 18 minutes, 24 seconds of ice time. Faber had a pretty drop-pass assist to Kirill Kaprizov and had three shots in 24:03 of ice time.
As the debate surrounding Bedard and Faber — the top two candidates for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s rookie of the year — reaches its climax during the final weeks of the season, Faber’s head-to-head record might be used as an argument for him.
But it just as easily can be used as an argument for Bedard. It does, in a way, demonstrate the ineptitude of the Hawks’ roster around him — context that makes the fact he has enjoyed such a good rookie season all the more impressive.
Every aspect of this Calder race is complicated, and passionate fan bases in Chicago and Minnesota — with no playoff interests to root for — have ratcheted up the intensity of the debate to extreme levels.
Bedard supporters point first and foremost to his sizable lead in the rookie scoring race, the metric that ultimately determines the winner of most awards in most seasons.
His 59 points easily exceed Devils defenseman Luke Hughes’ 44 points and Faber’s 43, and Bedard has accumulated that total in 14 fewer games. Bedard’s 22 goals also lead all rookies, edging Wild forward Marco Rossi’s 21.
Faber supporters point first and foremost to his well-roundedness. Not only does he rank third among rookies in points, but he has emerged as the Wild’s No. 1 defenseman because of his reliability in the defensive zone — a trait that contrasts with Bedard, who has struggled defensively at times.
Plus-minus is a flawed stat because it’s so heavily affected by the performance of one’s teammates, but it’s hard to ignore the difference between Faber’s plus-two rating and Bedard’s minus-38, which ranks among the bottom five in the NHL.
Bedard supporters also mention he’s nearly three years younger than Faber (who will turn 22 in August), rehash the aforementioned point about the lack of proven forwards around him and argue he has improved defensively during the course of the season.
Faber supporters also mention the Wild’s defensive depth chart isn’t exactly loaded, either, and bring up that Faber leads all rookies in time on ice. His average of 25:02 per game (entering Sunday) ranked sixth in the league.
Bedard likely will benefit from his fame and the fact that he has been the presumed Calder favorite since opening night. Faber, on the other hand, likely will benefit from his Cinderella status as a former second-round pick challenging the much-hyped No. 1 overall pick.
In a recent ESPN story that polled a sample of reporters with award votes, Faber led Bedard 54% to 46%. It’s worth noting, however, that there might be some analytics-leaning bias in that sample compared to the full pool of voters.
Hawks coach Luke Richardson, agreeable as always, said Sunday he sees talent worth appreciating in both players.
‘‘[Faber] plays on their power play at the top, which is a tough thing to do for a young defenseman, but he’s done it with some grace and aggression,’’ Richardson said. ‘‘He’s not the biggest guy, but he’s tenacious out there. He battles hard.’’
But when he was asked whether he would back his own player in the race, Richardson’s reply was an automatic yes.
‘‘[Bedard’s] production offensively is great, but now that you’re adding better and more conscious responsibility away from the puck, that shows a lot of maturity in a young player,’’ he said. ‘‘When you have the point production still coming when you’re doing that, that’s a sign of a real solid player that’s going to be here for a long time.’’
