Brock Faber selected to Team USA WJC roster

For the second consecutive year, LA Kings‘ defensive prospect Brock Faber will represent Team USA at the 2022 World Juniors.

Introducing the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team! 🇺🇸 #WorldJuniors

Full announcement → https://t.co/AlRSCKp1vQ pic.twitter.com/er1mEvPkzv

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 14, 2021

But unlike last season, Faber will be the only LA Kings prospect on the Team USA roster.

The Maple Grove, MN native was selected with the 45th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He developed under Ontario Reign head coach John Wroblewski at the USNTDP in Plymouth, MI, collecting three goals and 12 points in 46 USDP games during his draft season.

From there, Faber had an outstanding freshman campaign at the University of Minnesota, scoring one goal to go along with 12 assists in 27 games.

“You just saw him demand more ice, and he’s a confident kid, but you started to see that in his play,” Gophers assistant coach Garrett Raboin said of Faber’s confidence growing throughout the year. “I think the 12 points he had with us it – I mean, I think he had 47 games at the [USNTDP] his final year, and he had 12 points. Now he comes to us, he plays about half that, and he has 12 points. And you guys will see in time; he’s so much more than points. I mean, his value; he plays heavy minutes. He plays against top teams [first lines]; he plays penalty kill. We haven’t really used him on the power play. I think his game was just emphasized that much more as the season went on. And we sure used him an awful lot and in most situations.”

He is one of a few key returners to Team USA at the World Juniors this season after becoming a reliable defenseman for head coach Nate Leaman last year. En route to a gold medal, Faber collected just five assists in seven contests to go along with a plus-8. But he and Flyers’ draft pick Cam York quickly rose to the team’s top defensive pairing in the tournament.

“It’s nice to have that built-in familiarity and kind of be an example to the younger guys,” he said of being selected in Tuesday’s media call.

It’s a well-deserved honor for Brock, and it’ll be interesting to see if he ends up wearing a letter for Team USA.

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