Minnesota Wild defenceman Brock Faber underwent surgery to repair a fractured skull, general manager Bill Guerin told reporters on Tuesday.
Guerin said the blueliner does not yet have a timetable for return.
Faber sustained the injury during the team’s 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in their pre-season finale on Friday. The 6-foot-1 blueliner took a puck off the left side of the head off the stick of Stars forward Sam Steel.
He skated to the bench under his own power after the play and played the rest of the second period before being held out of the third.
Faber is a top pairing defenceman on the Wild, averaging 24:41 of ice time during the regular season and increasing to 29:44 in the playoffs.
The 24-year-old right-shot blueliner recorded 15 goals and 51 points in 80 games last season and added four goals and 10 points in 11 playoff games before the Wild were eliminated in the second round by the Colorado Avalanche.
Drafted 45th overall by the Wild in 2020, Faber has 33 goals and 127 points in 242 career games.
A native of Maple Grove, Minn., Faber has represented the United States twice at the World Juniors, and more recently, he helped the USA to silver at the 4 Nations Face-Off and gold at the 2026 Olympics at Milano-Cortina.
Minnesota opens their season on Thursday on the road against the Nashville Predators.
