Reviewing the Justin Faulk trade with the St Louis Blues

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.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: What do you think of what the Canes got back for Justin Faulk?