Today’s Daily Cup of Joe has a small but interesting batch of random Canes musings.
4D chess on the Justin Faulk trade rumors
After a wild day when rumors that Justin Faulk could be traded to Anaheim broke on Monday, it has been pretty quiet on that front since. My original article on that topic is HERE.
Justin Faulk deserves a huge amount of credit for putting in a couple solid practices with the news swirling around and being a good sport answering questions about it at his stall afterward.
I have no inside information on the current status of that situation, but here is an interesting possibility that is outside the realm of what is currently being considered. It has been reported that the Hurricanes and Justin Faulk discussed a next contract back in June, and at least as reported have not discussed it since. The assumption is that Faulk was asking for full market price and for long-term which would suggest something in the $7-8 million range within which Jacob Trouba just signed. The thought is that this range was more than the Hurricanes cared to pay which at least in part is what started the team down the trade path that it seems to currently be on. The addition of Jake Gardiner put the Hurricanes back at five top 4 defensemen which would make it feasible to trade Faulk now without undermanning the blue line. In addition, with the trade of Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin last summer after early season contract talks, there is precedent for pretty quickly dealing players whose contract demands do not line up with the team’s budget.
So long story short, the current path that seems to see Justin Faulk departing via trade is legitimately the most likely outcome.
But let’s say for a second that the team does want to or would at least consider keeping Justin Faulk long-term, but only at a certain price that is well below his ask from June.
Then let’s say that Faulk does indeed want to stay with the team he has spent his entire career with especially that after seven years of playoff misses, things finally turned positive last year.
And last let’s say that the team knows that Faulk really wants to stay.
Could brokering a deal with Anaheim and letting Faulk walk all the way up to leaving after seven years in Raleigh and maybe not wanting to be just an attempt to jolt him into the realization that negotiating for top dollar eventually leads to leaving the Hurricanes organization? In addition, if the Hurricanes have an inkling that other teams might also be hesitant to pay Faulk to dollar for his next deal, maybe letting his agent get on the phone with another team could walk back expectations somewhat.
So let’s say that the team did want to keep Faulk or was at least considering it, but that it was only willing to do so at a discounted price of say $5.5 million. The recent events that conveniently immediately followed the team gaining negotiating leverage with Garniner now added would arguably be an ingenious way to walk back Faulk’s demands and getting a discounted deal done.
Again, the odds still lean toward a Faulk departure sometime in the next year, but if there was somehow a path to the Canes re-signing him at 5 years for $5.5 million per year, this is it.
Considering Julius Honka
With Faulk still here for now, Gardiner added and the team being overstocked with you young depth defensemen who could be waiver wire risks, the Hurricanes were oddly mentioned in another situation. With the Finnish national team mostly collected and the Hurricanes odd position among the NHL’s greatest wheelers and dealers, the Canes were one of the rumored destinations.
I think some might make more of this than is the case and incorrectly consider it linked to the Faulk situation.
As I said on Twitter:
Julius Honka thing only makes sense if it is sideways swap for another similar age depth defenseman (McKeown or Forsling).
If #Canes scouts like Honka despite 'meh' development track, it's a buy low opportunity with potential upside.
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) September 14, 2019
I view Honka as a prospect who has thus far been a disappointment but still has higher-end upside due to his draft pedigree. If acquired, he would hop right into the pool of young defensemen at the fringe of the NHL and AHL who are competing for the bottom couple roster spots. As such, the Hurricanes really do not have room for another such player unless the Canes scouting staff really likes him and the trade swaps one of the Canes similar age defenseman. Regardless, even if acquired I view him as another prospect who might or might not win NHL ice time.
Fredrik Claesson on PTO
Also from the hotbed of Carolina Hurricanes blue line maneuvering, the team signed defenseman Fredrik Claesson to tryout contract. Claesson has 150 games of NHL experience and could be another option for #8 or #9 depth from the AHL level. I am record a few weeks back as saying that the team could trade one or more of Roland McKeown, Gustav Forsling or Haydn Fleury rather than risking losing them on the waiver wire. If that happens, the team could be short at the AHL level and in terms of deep depth. As a 26-year who is past the prospect stage, Claesson could back fill a position and be less likely to be claimed off of waivers on the way to the AHL.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Finally, Trevor van Riemsdyk skated outside of the practice groups on the first day of training camp which suggests that he is tracking toward a return but not yet at 100 percent.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Do you think there is even a tiny chance that the team is trying to and could successfully playing the Faulk situation into re-signing him at a favorable price?
2) What are your thoughts on adding another Finn and another young defenseman in Honka?
3) Who has other Canes blue line thoughts at this early juncture of preseason?
Go Canes!
1. I truly don’t think the ANA deal attempt has anything to do with showing Faulk that his FA market would be lower than his expectation or hope and that he should accept lower and stay here. For one thing that is a cheesy way to do it, and not particularly respectful. There is no reason to believe that ANA would not have been willing to have paid him $7M+ plus with term, and there is no reason to imagine that Faulk would join another struggling organization for term, regardless of money, after so many yeears with a struggling Canes.
There were reportedly teams calling for whom Faulk would not have to waive his NTC but the question is whether these will be hockey trades, where the other team will include legit assets and an extension for Faulk or a rental trade, for picks/prospects.
But I think the notion that the team is trying to demonstrate a limited demand for Faulk to be highly imaginative. And I still think Faulk gets traded for cap reasons.
2. It is always interesting these days to hear that the Canes are being mentioned in hockey trades – speaks well to Waddell continying to make the team better.
3. It is a shame that Priskie got injured on Day 1 of TC – this was his chance to show what he could. If he is “week to week” I doubt he will see any f the preseason, and that is a shame.
According to Sara Civian Fleury is apparently playing with some edge in camp, which is being noted positively by RBA amongst others.
On Saturday, I watched both sessions of training camp. Fleury was the best player on the ice for many of his drills. He looks a bit bigger and his skating remain excellent. The #6 is his position to lose in my opinion.
I think you are right. He has come to camp on a mission.
The team is on a pathway that will lead to losing one/maybe 2 defensemen, by Oct 1st through waivers. The pathway could also lead to losing Faulk at the end of the season for nothing as he enters UFA status. The same pathway leads to losing a defenseman in the Seattle draft. These paths lead me to expect something will be done to mitigate those pending problems, sooner rather than later.
As a result, several observations pop into mind.
1. A path for Prsikie to the NHL could suddenly widen, was this in the plan all along? His injury, likely increasing his beginning the season in Charlotte is possibly a blessing in disguise for both parties.
2. The Seattle draft is influencing the trade market. Anyone traded for today needing a new contract (ala Faulk) will need to be considered in the teams protection plans going forward. Both teams. NTCs and term will be harder for teams to put in their draft board planning.
3. Given the adage there is strength in numbers, why not Honka? We own his brothers rights. Should have good knowledge of this pedigree beyond draft position. He is Finnish, an area where we scout well. He will just need to understand he is going to play hockey in Charlotte, not Raleigh.
4. Faulk will stay in the draft rumor mill long past the start of the season. Nothing short of his re-signing a contract with a NMC will alter that.
Interesting thoughts about the expansion draft. Honestly, it could work the other way too. Another team could sign Faulk for what he wants and then expose him to the draft if they think he isn’t worth it.
Entering his last contract year prior to UFA status with a limited NMC, Faulk has more than a little control over his future, unless the team can work out a deal with a team already on his “approved” list. The devil in the details are the teams on that list. Anyone know who they are?
Couple of things: I doubt there’s too much concern for the Seattle draft short of NMCs given that it is 2 years away. A lot can happen in that time. It might impact Faulk’s ability to get movement clauses, but other than that, 2 years is a lifetime in roster construction terms.
Re: Honka – one thing to keep in mind is that he is no longer waiver exempt. We currently have McKeown, Fleury, Forsling, and PTO player Claesson who are all eligible for waivers. Something has to give for Honka to even be a consideration, IMO. Also, any move w/Dallas has to be a salary balancing act. They’ve got less than $1 million in cap space.
Jared Spurgeon just signed a 7yr, $53M extension. No way Faulk signs before free agency for less than that. I think Faulk would like to stay, but feels he deserves to be paid what he is worth. I can’t blame him. He will likely be traded.
Honka? No. As I’ve stated before the Canes need to get out of the business of reclamation projects. I don’t care if they are Finns. Also, someone besides Pesce and Slavin have to play defense. Honka doesn’t do that. In addition, the team doesn’t need another “maybe” player on D with a one-way contract. Montreal will probably offer the most for him as Bergevin is likely desperate to show he’s done something.
This is all really something. So many moving parts. So many needs to fill. So many GMs unwilling to help us. So many GMs with needs to fill. So many salary cap problems to solve.
And what is our committee up to? How can we best maneuver to fill our needs? What does our committee regard as our needs? Are they concerned about the need to replace Michael Ferland? Do they recognize that we need more grit than that? Or are they heading back to being the Candy Canes again?
Something is happening. I can see some of the head fakes Donny is trying to sell to the other GMs as well as to the anti-Canes press. But to what purpose?
I love a mystery. Most people do. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in Donny’s office for a day.
Well, the good news is that we will know much of what there is to know by October 3rd. The frustrating news is that we will likely never know it all.
I’ll trust Rod knows about the team’s need to add some toughness. After all, he played with plenty of that.
Read our Hayden’s quotes about being a laid back kid but needing to add intensity on the ice. Maybe he you can change – plenty of people can be bastards at one thing and nice the rest of the time.
Read a lot of comments on hockey sites about the canes trying to hoard d-men. Pretty funny.
The Athletic’s column “Down Goes Brown” has published its Bizarro Meter for off season activities rating all the teams in the Eastern Conference. We won. The author, in addition to giving us the highest rating, the author stated that he can’t figure us out.
An enigma, wrapped up in a riddle….as it were.
My guess is McIndoe is a writer, and a good one, who really doesn’t know any more about hockey than you and I. I also doubt he watched many Canes games last year until the playoffs. He also probably loves analytics, which are useful, but doesn’t understand much of the other stuff. Of course he doesn’t get a team that plays together, responsibly, and for each other. St. Louis was the same, only with better players.
Like that “4D Chess”!! Apparently it is working, if nobody can figure out what is going on. LOL!
Actually hoarding defensemen (at this point of the season) is not a bad idea! There are several forwards w/o contracts, creating opportunities for creative GM’S. AND OUR COMMITTEE may jump to the occasion, using some of the DMEN SURPLUS, IMO!
Hoarding defensemen? We are hoarding goalkeepers and forwards too. But the hoarding will not last long. The need among GMs is becoming increasingly desperate. As is the cap pressure. As is also the RFA situation. And the UFA situation.
And there sits my beloved Canes. With our well-stocked used player lot. Prices and players for every need and every budget.
It’s Christmas in September! Come on down and see Crazy Donny. His prices are insane!
I wish there was a like button for this comment….
1. I agree that O & M would like to re-sign Faulk. He is an integral part of
the team. My guess is that it’s a stalemate right now. I believe $6.5M is
the number give or take.
2. Honka deal is very unlikely IMO.
3. Just a hunch, but the Jets could use some help on defense. Possible trade
partner for a certain unsigned RFA forward?
Is Winnipeg on an approved trade list of a certain RHD with one year left on his current deal?
On the good side it’s kinda close to Minnesota? On the bad side it’s considered one of the worst places to live in the NHL.
I doubt it. Winnipeg is a small but intense Canadian market. Not much fun for players. Just ask Trouba and Laine.
Mr. Faulk only had Mo as a coach for one year. But that is likely enough.
Playing for Mo is not fun.
In Winnepeg, you have currency differential problems along with taxes that are worse than here (with the exception of New York and California).
If I had to guess today, the Faulk deal is dead….look for guys like McKeown, Forsling, and maybe TVR as our new trade bait.