For Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin, signing 21-year-old Brock Faber to the largest contract extension in the franchise’s history was an easy decision.

“When you’re sitting in my chair — and all the hockey ops group, when we talk about these things, it’s extremely important to identify who you think is going to be your part of your your foundation going forward,” Guerin told the media at a press conference on Monday, after Faber inked an eight-year deal worth a total of $68 million.

“It’s a no-brainer that that Brock is going to be one of those guys, and we wanted to lock him up.”

In 2023-24, his first full NHL season, Faber finished second to Connor Bedard in voting for the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.

Pushed into a top-pairing role on the Minnesota blue line due to injury issues that limited Wild captain Jared Spurgeon to just 16 games, Faber finished fifth in the entire NHL in total ice time, averaging 24:58 while playing all 82 games. He played on the power play, the penalty kill and in 3-on-3 overtime, and his 47 points tied him with other esteemed defensemen like Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins, Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights, and fellow rookie Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils.

Faber’s workload may have been handed to him out of necessity due to Spurgeon’s injuries, but he did not wilt under the pressure.

Not bad for a player who was originally drafted in the second round in 2020 by the Los Angeles Kings, 45th overall. A native of Maple Grove, Minnesota, Faber played three seasons at the University of Minnesota and captained the Golden Gophers in 2022-23. He was thrilled when the Kings dealt him to his hometown team, along with a first-round draft choice, when they acquired forward Kevin Fiala on June 29, 2022.

“Wild jerseys, posters, fat heads — I might have had Wild sheets at one point when I was growing up,” Faber said Monday. “I’m a Minnesota kid, born and raised, and it’s always been a dream of mine to be able to wear this sweater and play for this team. It just so happened that it worked out the way it did. Now, just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get from here on out.”

Faber has one year remaining on his entry-level contract before his new extension kicks in starting with the 2025-26 season. That locks him up until 2022-23, when he’ll be nearly 31, at an average annual value of $8.5 million per season.

He’ll be one of the Wild’s foundational players going forward, along with winger Matt Boldy. The 23-year-old, who was drafted 12th overall in 2019, hit a new career high with 69 points in 2023-24, the first season of his seven-year contract extension that carries a cap hit of $7 million per year.

“They did show something that warrants what what they get,” Guerin said. “There’s something special about what they do. There’s something special about who they are.”

While Minnesota famously handed out a pair of 13-year, $98-million contracts to bring in unrestricted free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter under the terms of a previous collective bargaining agreement in 2012, Faber’s deal now ranks as the largest extension in the history of the Wild franchise, which joined the NHL in 2000.

But even thought the NHL is currently moving into an inflationary period now that its salary cap is starting to rise again after several years of stagnation, Faber’s deal doesn’t really boost the asking price for young right-shot defensemen at the highest level.

On October 15, 2021, with the salary cap stuck at $81.5 million, 23-year-old Charlie McAvoy signed an eight-year extension with a cap hit of $9.5 million per season with the Boston Bruins after four NHL seasons. Because he was a little older, that deal came in at a higher price point because it bought more free-agent years.

Better recent comparisons come from a couple of other high-end defensemen on their entry-level deals. On Sept. 6, 2023, with just 77 NHL games played, Jake Sanderson inked an eight-year deal with a cap hit of $8.05 million per season with the Ottawa Senators — and he plays on the left side.

One month later, Owen Power committed to the Buffalo Sabres for seven years at $8.35 million. He also plays the left side. That signing came two days after the Sabres committed to an eight-year extension at $11 million per season with righty Rasmus Dahlin, at age 23 and following his fifth NHL campaign.

Faber’s deal now becomes a new comparable for two other RFA defensemen who are coming out of their entry-level contracts and need new deals before next season.

As the 2022 Calder Trophy winner and a steady presence on the Detroit Red Wings’ blue line for the last three seasons, it’s expected that Moritz Seider will also receive a big, long-term deal. Well-established at 23, he’s not going to get any cheaper, and the Red Wings have more than $17 million in available cap space to allocate to Seider and rising-star forward Lucas Raymond, according to PuckPedia.

For the Dallas Stars, the situation is a little trickier for their 2019 first-round pick, Thomas Harley. Selected 12 spots after Seider at No. 18, Harley broke through as a full-time NHL player during the Stars’ run to the 2023 Western Conference Final. He became a breakout defenseman for Dallas last season, averaging 21:01 per game and posting 47 points — the same number as Faber.

Harley’s sudden emergence was a pleasant surprise for the Stars, but now he needs a new deal. So far, Harley hasn’t been as much of a workhorse as Seider or Faber. He also plays the left side, not the right.

But if Dallas GM Jim Nill does want to lock up Harley for the long term, he’s currently limited in what he can do. PuckPedia shows that the Stars currently have just over $6 million in available cap space remaining for 2024-25.