Making Brock Faber’s case for Calder: NHL players and coaches on why he could edge Connor Bedard

“He’s a stud,” Boston Bruins No. 1 defenseman Charlie McAvoy said.

“Unreal,” said the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, a favorite to win this season’s Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.

“He’s got that it factor,” Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette said.

“He’ll be a big-time defenseman for a long time,” Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

“A hell of a player,” Bedard said.

Picking between Bedard and Faber will be extremely challenging for Calder voters; they’re completely different players at different positions on teams that were in different situations this season. It’s like comparing two separate species. But that’s the challenge for Professional Hockey Writers Association members when they get their ballots. It’s perfectly OK to appreciate both as unique talents who will be battling against each other for the next decade-plus.

“That guy is fucking good,” one NHL scout said of Faber. “(Bedard) is special, and he does a lot with not much help. But if he’s valuable to his team, you talk about (Faber) too. If (Faber’s) not back there, it’s going to be trouble. That’s a hard one. “If (the Wild) sneak into the playoffs, it’s got to be him.”

So if you’re voting, one key question to think about is this: What’s more impressive? A rookie stepping in as a No. 1 defenseman? Or a kid starting as a No. 1 center? “Defense has always been more complex to round out your game because you’ve had to defend near your goal and you have to master the art of playing smartly at the opposing blue line,” Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman said. “I have heard that Luke Richardson has lately openly said Bedard has to learn to play the defensive side of the puck much more frequently.

“Bedard gets a lot of hype — deservedly so. But I have never seen reported his (plus-minus rating, currently minus-37). Most of the younger aces have always been offensive guys who, in time, must learn the 200-foot game. My two experiences on players I coached were Jacques Lemaire, who in junior only played offense but after his first few years with the Canadiens learned how to play two way; and (Steve) Yzerman, halfway through his career in Detroit played the 200-foot game — which I give them credit for, by changing their style and, to me, is the reason they won multiple Stanley Cups.”

Part of the fun of the debate is it doesn’t have to end this year. Faber and Bedard will go up against each other for years. Bigger awards, perhaps a Hart or Norris, could be in their future.