A commonly discussed subject surrounding the Carolina Hurricanes involves what players should be dealt before next season, including Faulk and Hanifin.
Is there any way for the Carolina Hurricanes to figure out the situation on the blue line? Entering the 2017-18 regular season, the Canes were heralded as having one of the deeper young defensive groups in the Metropolitan Division. However, this position group proved to be nothing of the sort for most of the season.
Two of the defensemen that Carolina really needs to examine are Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin. While the most offensively gifted defensemen for the Canes are both Faulk and Hanifin, they’re also liabilities in the defensive zone. In fact, no two players are bigger defensive liabilities for the Canes than Faulk and Hanifin.
Up until the start of this season, the Canes had a good thing going with Faulk. He was usually paired with a fellow defender that was better in their own zone. However, head coach Bill Peters seemingly abandoned that strategy this season, opting to move Faulk’s pairing around a lot.
Faulk could frequently be found alongside guys like rookie Haydn Fleury and Klas Dahlbeck. The pairing with Dahlbeck could’ve been promising, in theory at least. Dahlbeck is too slow sometimes to cover for the offensive minded Faulk. Fleury had some problems of his own in all areas of the ice when he worked his way into the lineup.
On the other hand, Hanifin was a first-time NHL All-Star selection in 2018. Moreover, the defensive line featuring Hanifin and Trevor van Riemsdyk actually worked out quite well. In fact, van Riemsdyk led the Canes in plus/minus this season.
The development of Hanifin showed some very obvious positive signs over the past three seasons. However, there’s still some clear pitfalls in his defensive ability, which is a very notable issue at the very least. Faulk can at least show better scoring touch next season with a strong response.
Both these defensemen have very interesting situations with the Canes. Hanifin is younger, and has the confidence coming off his first ever All-Star selection. Meanwhile, Faulk is a co-captain on this team and has that respect from the locker room.
The trade rumors surrounding both players have really heated up the past two years. Former general manager Ron Francis did nothing to address those rumors, but he’s no longer making those decisions.
If the Canes were to still explore all options for Faulk and Hanifin, there would definitely be some interested suitors. It’s likely that Hanifin’s name would carry more value on the trade market than Faulk, since he led all Carolina defenders in the point department. And, Hanifin is much younger.
Since the Canes do need some more scoring support than they had last season, dealing away one or both of these guys could also do some significant damage. The change here needs to happen with the front office and coaching staff. Once that happens, if Faulk and Hanifin don’t see any changes to their overall production in all zones of the ice, then it’s time to think about adding some new defenders to the mix in Raleigh.
Next: 5 players key to the success of the Carolina Hurricanes next season
For now, the problem is much bigger than just Faulk or Hanifin. If you have to break it down through the full course of the season, Faulk had more struggles than Hanifin. Faulk finished with the second lowest plus/minus rating on the team, and sat among the worst in the entire league in that category. He’s the first logical trade choice if either is dealt.