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Marco Rossi, Brock Faber Both Get NHL All-Rookie Honors
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Wild had a brutal 2023-24 season, but one silver lining was the play of their rookies, Brock Faber and Marco Rossi, both of whom they relied on heavily throughout the year.

Minnesota Wild’s Brock Faber, Marco Rossi named to NHL All-Rookie Team

But on Thursday evening, both Wild rookies were rewarded when they were named to the 2023-24 NHL All-Rookie Team, taking up 1/3 of the available spots. Minnesota was the only team in the league to have two players on this year’s All-Rookie squad.

Marco Rossi had the bounceback campaign that president of hockey operations Bill Guerin challenged the 22-year-old centerman to last offseason, potting 21 goals to go with 19 assists on 16:44 TOI. What did Rossi get to celebrate such a great year? The Wild are reportedly dangling him on the trade block.

Meanwhile, Brock Faber didn’t just lead most rookies in that latter category… he led most of the NHL, with an absolutely astonishing 24:58 TOI per night, which ranked 6th among all skaters in the league.

Not only was he arguably Minnesota’s best shutdown defenseman (and most healthy), but the 21-year-old Faber showed an offensive side to his game that wasn’t necessarily projected coming out of college at the U of M, scoring 8 goals and 39 assists on the season.

Faber finished 2nd in the Calder Trophy (ROY) race, behind Chicago Blackhawks golden boy, Connor Bedard, who also made the All-Rookie Team, obviously. Bedard finished the season with 22 goals and 39 assists (19:47 TOI).

This article first appeared on Minnesota Sports Fan and was syndicated with permission.

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