Reviewing the Justin Faulk trade with the St Louis Blues
In 2019, the Carolina Hurricanes traded one of the best defensemen in the history of the organization away. We had known this was coming for a while, as his name had been in the rumor mills forever, but when Justin Faulk was eventually traded, there was a sense that the blade hanging over the head of the Canes leading point producer from the back end had dropped.
Many people look back at Faulk’s time in Raleigh and deem it a failure because they associate Faulk with the ten years of mediocrity. But the truth is, the South St Paul, Minnesota native never did anything or said anything that would damage the appearance of the team. He did nothing but give his all for the hockey club game after game, and he might not have been the blueline savior we wanted him to be, but he was a good player.
For a defenseman, Justin Faulk played in 559 games for the Hurricanes. His 85 goals and 173 assists for 258 points are still one of the highest totals for a defenseman in the history of the Hartford Whalers – Carolina Hurricanes organization. Faulk was a homegrown talent drafted in the 2nd round of the 2010 NHL entry draft and he carried himself with a great amount of class as a Canes, going to an all-star game.
In the summer of 2019, the Hurricanes had one of the deepest bluelines in hockey. In addition to that, they added free agent defenseman, Jake Gardiner. Faulk became the odd man out on the back end and in the end, it became inevitable that the player and team were going to separate eventually. His name had been in the rumor mill forever, and it felt like the time had come for both parties to move on.
At one point, news broke of a potential deal agreed with Anaheim, but that never came to fruition. Some people suggest that it was because of the leak that the deal never came around and then Ducks general manager Bob Murray decided to pull out of the trade after seeing the backlash that had come from the Ducks fans. But it wouldn’t be much longer until Faulk was indeed moved.
Faulk was traded to the St Louis Blues on September 24th, 2019, alongside a 5th-round draft pick. Carolina got back Joel Edmundson, Dominik Bokk, and a 7th-round draft selection. It was a trade that finally took the South St Paul, Minnesota native away from the organization that brought him into the league. After his first-ever playoff run, Faulk had been traded to the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Faulk’s time in St Louis
Since the trade from Carolina, Faulk has found a new home in the Gateway to the West. However, he didn’t get off to the smoothest start as a St Louis Blue. When he arrived in St Louis, he seemed to struggle as the offensive defenseman put up just five goals and eleven assists in his first 69 games as a Blue. This was a worrying sign for someone that should have been in a contract year.
I say should have been in a contract year because Faulk signed a massive extension with the Blues when he arrived. A 7-year, $45.5 million deal was agreed upon between the parties, carrying an average annual value of $6.5 million per year. But that isn’t all, as the first five years of that deal came with a full no-trade clause. In the final 2 years, it becomes a modified no-trade with a 15-team no-trade list.
Faulk has since found his footing in St Louis. This year, the offensive defenseman put up 16 goals and 31 assists for 47 points in 76 games. While this doesn’t look like anything substantial on the surface, it is a much more comparable stat-line to the ones he was putting up as a member of the Hurricanes organization. His growth in the midwest has been obvious and he’s gotten stronger over time.
Faulk still has 4 years remaining on his current deal and is the highest-paid member of the Blues’ defensive core. While his deal is not exactly team-friendly, the blueliner has gotten closer to being his old self when he’s taken to the ice at the Enterprise Center. He’s not been earth-shattering, but he’s not been anything to turn your nose up at. He’s come as advertised pretty much.
Joel Edmundson
Moving to the Carolina side of this trade, we shall start with the only piece to have actually made an appearance in the NHL for the Hurricanes and that is Edmundson. While the 6’4, 230 lbs defenseman only made 72 appearances for the team total in the one season he was here, he became a player that a few fans were able to get behind due to his heavy-hitting style and physical play.
In his 68 regular-season games in the season that was cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Edmundson recorded 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points in the shortened season. He was often played in an elevated role and it seemed to hurt his ability to play well defensively. Even playing on the second pairing with a babysitter, he struggled at times and never really found his footing in Carolina.
When Carolina loaded up on the backend at the time of the 2020 NHL trade deadline, Edmundson had been pushed down the depth chart some more due to circumstances outside of his control. He ended up fighting for his place in the lineup when it came to the bubble in Toronto and it was clear that with his contract expiring, the Hurricanes were not going to need his services any longer.
His signing rights were shipped off to Montreal for a 2020 5th-round draft pick and Edmundson still remains as a member of the Canadiens. He was part of the first team to ever finish 32nd in the NHL standings so there’s that neat little trivia fact for you. Edmundson’s time in Montreal has been mostly strong as he has become a good top 4 D for the Habs, but that is not what we are here to talk about.
Dominik Bokk
We can talk about a lot of players that the Hurricanes have run in and out of their system, but the big one from this trade is Dominik Bokk. A 2018 first-round pick #25th overall, Bokk has seemed to have become one of the whiffs from that first round. That can change, and we are all hoping it does, but as of right now, it doesn’t look great for the German prospect.
Making his debut in the German DNL for KOLNER EC U19 at age 15, Bokk is someone that has shown the ability to dominate the European leagues. He would record just one assist in his two games in the playoffs as a 15-year-old, but you could see the talent. As a 16-year-old, he exploded for 34 goals and 37 assists for 71 points in just 41 games. He had 5 goals and 2 assists in just 2 playoff games. He looked to be the real package.
For the 2017-18 season, Bokk left Germany and went to play his hockey in the system of the Vaxjo Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). For the U20 program, he would record 14 goals and 27 assists in just 35 games and he would even make his SHL debut. 15 games with only two points, but it was a step forward. It looked like Bokk was going to become something special, but since then, it’s been hard to judge.
In 2018-19, Bokk would make more of a mark on the SHL with 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points in his 47 games. Nothing to turn your nose up at, but this isn’t what the Canes expected in return for Justin Faulk. This was before the deal was made, so you’re hoping it was just a down year, and it turned out that these struggles were going to plague him for a while.
For the 2019-20 season, Bokk was on loan at Rogle and his totals took a major drop. Just 11 goals and 6 assists in 45 games was a major red flag, Obviously, the world stopped for the pandemic so it wasn’t completely within his control, but there was a lot to be worried about with the German at this stage.
He’d play 20 more games in the 2020-21 season in the SHL, but nothing worth mentioning. What is worth mentioning is that this would be the year he would make his move across the pond to North America as he joined the Chicago Wolves system. He looked good to start too. 29 games and 9 goals, 9 assists, and 18 points looked like a solid foundation for the German winger to build on, but it just has not happened yet.
This year, he recorded 3 goals and 7 assists in his 32 games with the Wolves resulted in him getting loaned back to the DEL, the top flight of German Hockey. He put up 11 points in 14 games with Eisbaren Berlin, but that isn’t where the Canes wanted him to be. Ideally, he’d be in the system developing under the watchful eye of the Wolves and taking steps forward. It just didn’t happen. Not yet anyway.
The draft picks
Carolina’s best value from this deal has seemingly been what the team has elected to do with their draft picks. Carolina’s drafting has long been the strength of the front office. They can find value in the draft as well as any other team in the National Hockey League. From this trade with St Louis, the Hurricanes had a 5th-round selection in the 2020 NHL entry draft from Montreal to accompany the 7th they got from St Louis.
That 7th-round draft pick from the original trade became Nikita Guslistov. A left-handed Centerman, Guslistov went to the original world junior championships this year representing Russia. Obviously, he will not be at the rescheduled event due to circumstances beyond his control, but he’s a nice prospect to have within the pipeline for the organization.
Montreal’s fifth-round pick was flipped to Los Angeles for two more picks. They got a 2020 sixth-rounder and a 2021 seventh-rounder. Those players are both in the current Hurricanes prospect pipeline. With the 2020 sixth-round selection becoming Lucas Mercuri and the 2021 seventh-round pick being used to select Yegor Naumov, the Hurricanes will be reaping rewards from this trade if any of these three players become something.
When Faulk was moved, the Hurricanes had been wanting to move on from the defenseman for some time. What has been retrieved for one of the best defensemen in the history of the organization is still developing, but has been underwhelming at this early stage. While we wait for the next step in the return for Faulk, at this moment, we can only hope it gets better.