On Tuesday night, Justin Faulk was a non-attendee for a season ticket holder event. On Wednesday morning, he was mysteriously not on the ice for practice though he had not been noted as injured. And then a couple hours later it was announced that Justin Faulk and a fifth-round pick had been traded to the St. Louis blues for forward prospect and 2018 first-rounder Dominik Bokk, physical defenseman Joel Edmundson and a seventh-round draft pick.
The trade closes the book on the longest-tenured player on the Hurricanes roster, and I think finally completes the intended restart that the team tried to effect last summer.
What follows is a look at this deal on multiple levels
The final piece of work for effecting a restart
After Tom Dundon’s acquisition of the team early in 2018, the changeover was rapid and at times tumultuous. Before the 2018 NHL Playoffs were completed, the team had relieved General Manager Ron Francis and Head Coach Bill Peters of their duties. They were replaced from within by Don Waddell and Rod Brind’Amour respectively.
On June 8, 2018 before the 2018 NHL Draft, I wrote an article that used the term ‘harsh realities’ in discussing a number of key players. I stopped short of calling this a potential trade checklist for shaking up the culture for a restart, but that is what this article was. By the end of the summer 4 of 6 players discussed (Ward, Skinner, Hanifin, Lindholm) had been traded. Faulk would have been the fifth with only Jordan Staal remaining.
The changeover on the roster were even more significant. Added over the course of the summer were Jordan Martinook, Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, Petr Mrazek and Calvin de Haan. Add in waiver acquisition Curtis McElhinney and rookies Andrei Svechnikov, Warren Foegele and Lucas Wallmark and very nearly half of the roster changed over. Along the way, the roster climbed to five top 4 defensemen which seemed unlikely to be intentional for a team on a budget.
And those changes were not only at the depth level. Jeff Skinner was dealt for what the team could get given his full no-trade clause. And along the way, Justin Faulk’s name made repeated rounds through the trade rumor mill. He was discussed heavily leading up to the 2018 NHL Draft, intermittently throughout the summer and then again late in the summer. Out of decency, the team will never discuss it now, but there is significant evidence to suggest that a Faulk trade was part of the restart but that the team pulled up short when unable to get a fair return for Faulk.
Faulk deserves as much credit as the next guy for the team’s success in 2018-19, so theoretically the evaluation of his role on the team going forward was in a significantly different place entering the summer of 2019. But in the end, I think the initial assessment that he was not a necessary core part of the team coupled with what would be a risky long-term contract that started when he was 28 years old pretty quickly put management back on the same track as the previous summer.
Once again Faulk’s name arose leading up to the draft with some mention of team meeting with Faulk’s agent. But likely pretty quickly, the team made a more general decision not to commit to 5-7 years on Faulk’s next contract that starts when he turns 28 years old. Then just when it seemed possibly that Faulk would stay aboard for a team that needed him to play ‘win now’ hockey, the team signed Jake Gardiner to again push to five top 4 defensemen and set the wheels in motion to finish last summer’s work. From the point when Gardiner was added as a fifth top 4 defenseman, management seemed to chart a course quickly toward moving on from Justin Faulk.
The trade itself
In netting only a lower-tier defenseman who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, the return for Faulk seems modest. Some are comparing it to the Jeff Skinner trade under duress last summer. I do think the trade return was modest, but I think there are two key differences as compared to the Skinner trade. First, whereas the Skinner trade seemed to yield just a random pile of stuff in terms of futures, the Hurricanes obtained a higher-end prospect in Dominik Bokk. His mixed bag of a 2018-19 season and development in general might knock him off the high flier list. But he still has legitimate first-round potential, and Corey Pronman from The Athletic has him at #50 overall for NHL prospects which is not too far below the Canes 2019 first-rounder Ryan Suzuki. In addition to receiving a higher-end prospect, the Hurricanes also received a useful NHL roster player in Joel Edmundson. Edmundson averaged nearly 20 minutes of ice time during the regular season on a good (at least second half of the season) Blues team. I view him as a proven #4 maybe somewhat similar to Calvin de Haan and even with some of the same skill set. In deals like this no-trade clause issues and some time pressure, it can be hard to get maximum return. But at least in this case, the Hurricanes did net two useful components in the deal.
Justin Faulk and why it (in my opinon) was best to move on
As noted above, Justin Faulk had a strong rebound season in 2018-19 and every bit deserves his share of credit for the team’s success. But a key phrase there is ‘rebound season.’ In my opinion, Faulk was sub-par in both 2016-17 and also 2017-18 defensively. I was hard on Faulk two years back well before it became more commonplace and well before the rounds of trade rumors. I know we are not supposed to talk about plus/minus but matched with the eye test, the fact that the team was losing with Faulk on the ice was not random statistical bad luck. The struggles on the defensive side of the puck were overshadowed a bit by some goal scoring.
In my opinion and I think management’s too, I think Faulk’s ups and downs over the past couple years made for a poor risk/reward ratio for Faulk’s next contract. Faulk will be 28 when that contract starts and will be 35 when it ends. Especially for a player whose struggles in my opinion were in part to playing right on the edge of the quickness/acceleration line for an ever faster NHL, I think the risk that too many of those seven years are bad is just too high for the cost and term. While I do agree that the team would be better with Faulk than without him specifically for 2019-20, I just would not be willing to commit to seven years after that.
Joel Edmundson
At a simple level, Joel Edmundson is a proven, veteran top 4 defenseman. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, so there are no guarantees on his longevity in a Hurricanes uniform, but he is actually a pretty good fit for some of what the Hurricanes need on the blue line with Faulk’s departure. Edmundson is not relevant for replacing Faulk on the power play but with Faulk’s ratio to volume of shots and focus to actual goals, better might be to go a different direction anyway. Jake Gardiner brings more of a puck distribution/playmaking component for the point, and the team does still have Dougie Hamilton and a decent group of forwards as potential trigger men. But what Edmundson can do is replace Faulk on the penalty kill. He can also add a bit of snarl and toughness that in general the team is lacking based on the summer’s personnel changes. Edmundson reminds me a bit of Calvin de Haan as a defense-leaning, scoring-lite defenseman who maybe will not wow with highlights but is proven and capable in a top 4 role. In short Edmundson, fills a couple needs and gets the Hurricanes back up to five top 4 defensemen even with Faulk’s departure.
Dominik Bokk
I know only what I have read about him, so I will not pass detailed judgment. As a first-round draft pick in 2018, Bokk adds another higher-end prospect to the Hurricanes’ group. He is a right shot who has skill that easily projects to the NHL. He gets mixed reviews for consistency, constant effort level and other things that often plague young prospects. There are no guarantees with players at his age or stage of development, but Bokk has a high ceiling and is a higher-end addition to the Hurricanes prospect pool.
Reconsidering the blue line for the 2019-20 season
Even with Faulk’s departure, the Hurricanes blue line is deep. I would expect the team to start with Slavin/Hamilton and Gardiner/Pesce as the top 4. Each pairing has a mix of a solid stay-home type with a player who can be more of a rover. Edmundson adds another option for a top 4 defenseman in the event of an injury or just the need to reinforce the group. With veteran van Riemsdyk also in the mix, the team can ice a very capable and experienced third pairing if it chooses. A potentially rising Fleury makes those last two slots a competition and Forsling and Bean make for great depth.
Some might think that there could be one more trade coming with the volume of depth on the Hurricanes’ blue line. I do think it is possible that the Hurricanes deal someone like Forsling to clear out a player who could fall below the NHL depth chart but must clear waivers to go to the AHL. But my best guess is that the Hurricanes will not be in hurry to trade Edmundson. Rather, I think the team gained an appreciation for being deep on the blue line in 2018-19 and is now set to go the same route in 2019-20.
Leadership gap
With Justin Williams stepping away from the game and Justin Faulk gone via trade, the Hurricanes now only have Jordan Staal remaining from the 2018-19 leadership team. I was in the minority per the poll in the article in believing that Sebastian Aho is ultimately destined to lead this team and that given the circumstances maybe starting now. The logical choice would seem to be Jordan Staal. Faulk’s departure now has two open spots that could be filled by next-generation leaders like Aho or Slavin or maybe just one of those and someone like Martinook.
Regardless, the team that showed heart, resiliency, guts and whatever other intangibles you want to list in finally fighting through adversity to make the playoffs will almost start anew leadership-wise. I do not see Justin Faulk individually as necessarily as tough to replace as Williams, but the lack of experience in a formal leadership role is significant.
The brutal part of the business
The thing that hit me first a couple weeks back considering a possible Justin Faulk trade in detail was how seemingly unfair it was. Faulk endured the down years for the franchise and did so in a way that was admirable. He was easily one of the most deserving players when the team finally returned to the playoffs last Spring. And other than wanting market value or close for his next contract there were no indications that his preference was to leave. Yet, the team seemed to make it pretty clear recently that he was not intended to be part of the long-term core. So after seven years of waiting for the team to improve and finally realizing it, Faulk is gone just like that. I guess it comes with the territory in the hockey business, but it still seems unfair.
As I post this there are already about 30 comments below. I look forward to reading everyone else’s opinions on the deal over the next day or so.
Go Canes!
Not sure what to think, on the surface it doesn’t look like we got the better end of this deal.
Kinda hard to get a great return when you 1) Are trying to get it done before the season starts. 2) Have a player with a NTC that won’t waive it unless he gets the extension he wants. Considering I think Waddell did as well as can be expected.
Actually, STL was on Faulk’s “Yes” list. STL wasn’t going to the trade, however, unless Faulk signed the extension.
Not really my point. The fact that Faulk had a NTC limited the Canes options. The Blues negotiated accordingly. The Canes got a #6-#7 d-man that makes $3M and a shaky first round prospect. On an open market they get much more.
Not a bad return. Edundson is a useful player. Bokk is a former first rounder that may have disappointed a bit in the SHL last year. Still young though. The Canes cleared the cap they needed to in the process, although they still have a surplus of NHL defensemen. Either another trade will be coming or one of Fleury, Forsling, or possibly Edmundson will get exposed to waivers at some time this season.
Thank you Santa Donny! Wow! Edmundson is the big strong mean left handed defensemen I asked for. Yay!
Bokk and the pick are nice bonuses.
Perfectly fine w/ this. Bokk could turn into a good player, Edmundson can do a job as a big body and as a nice piece on the penalty kill. The most important thing is no more Faulk eating up all the PP1 minutes. That’s a pretty big deal, I think.
That said, Faulk was a good player for us for years. This is for the best for everyone. He goes to a winner and gets a great contract (for him) and the Canes don’t have to pay it. Any return at all is an absolute bonus.
Oh, and Bokk’s a righty too, which is nice.
Edmundson is not going anywhere but on Canes ice. He is not only the big strong mean left handed defenseman we so desperately needed, he is Michael Ferland’s replacement.
I’ve been watching him on Hockey fights.com. I had a moment. Wow! He can fight. And it looks like he does it a lot.
Watch out Tom Wilson and Radko Gudas. Try to goon it up with Fishy and Turbo, and you’ll have Joey in your grill.
Essentially we:
1) replaced de Haan ($4.55M for 3 yrs) with Joel Edmundson ($3.1M for 1 yr), similar players although Edmundson is bigger, more physical, defends his teammates and will drop the gloves;
2) replaced Faulk (signed for 7 yrs at $6.5M) with Gardiner ($4.05M for 4 yrs).
This is masterful salary cap management – a savings of almost $4M per year – for what should be similar production. I like this deal. Prospect Bokk is a bonus.
Edmundnson for de Haan is an upgrade. Gardiner for Faulk is a downgrade.
A healthy DeHaan is a much better player. Except that Edmundnson can fight.
Gardiner and Edmundnson are cheaper than DeHaan and Faulk.
You can call it cheap or good business but Faulk is going to make 6 mil. So a big savings.
You may be right about de Haan.
Don’t forget the pick!
As much as I’m not a fan of trading every franchise player with 1 year left on his contract, I think the return was an acceptable justi(n)f(aulk)ication.
We get a mean man back there,and a right handed pick, albeit a bit of a bust one.
I think a 5th for a 7th roundpick swap doesn’t amount to anything, chances of a 5th vs. a 7th round pick netting an NHL talent are almost exactly equal.
and they saved a million dollars.
1. We get value for Faulk – we were never going to re-sign him for that type of $$/term. Although I thought with an extension to Faulk it would have been more of a hockey trade.
2. We solve the cap space issue, at least to the point where we will have about a million in cap space when we go down to the 23-man roster.
3. Our LHD are now stacked with veterans – neither Forsling or Fleury can be happen with this; one will be pushed to 7D and the other to CLT (unless there is a trade to be made).
4. Priskie has to be happy – he will slot into 3rd pairing RHD until TvR returns.
5. Edmundson is an improvement on the PK (as Gardiner will be an upgrade to the PP).
6. We will have bunches of cap space starting next season.
If we were a better team than last year a couple of months ago when I ran into Mike Maniscalco at a Bulls game, I think we are now an even better team. I think DW did well with this one, stipulating the conditions.
I also think Bokk might prove to be a good “sweetener” in this deal. He is killing it in the European U20s – not sure why he is in the SHL. That seems like a bad fit for him developmentally.
Probably why he was traded. Top prospects are expected to be able to play pro hockey at 18-19 years old. The only reason guys like Fleury, Bean, and Suzuki go back to juniors is that they are legally required to do so if they don’t make the NHL.
I actually think Faulk’s extension was reasonable (albeit 2 years longer than ideal).
We collectively thought he was going to argue for 7 to8 million.
After seeing the extension signed by Spurgeon I was thinking $6.5 to $7M.
After some research I’m not as high on Edmundson. I think he will be in and out of the lineup based upon who we are playing. I can’t see him playing against fast teams like Tampa Bay and Toronto. I can also see why St. Louis was interested in getting rid of a guy who won $3.1M in arbitration after being a healthy scratch in many playoff games.
While the contract issues drove this trade, the Canes are a worse team than they were yesterday.
Absolutely they are, and I still dont understand the panic that drives our GMs to collect anything they can for a player with a year left on his contract, we weren’t exactly hurting for a bottom pairing defenseman before the trade.
Without a secondary trade to improve the team I find this deal meh, though not disasterously horrible.
We were poised to have the best D in the league this season, that is no longer the case, though our D is pretty decent.
We did not really free up that much cap space, about a million.
It’sall about that right winger dude, can he outperform the Poo we ended up carrying aroun last year? if he can live up to a first draft potential and add some right handed acumen to this squad that would be good.
Joel Edmundson had an ATOI of 19:23 in 68 games for the Stanley Cup winning team. His other stats are on line for a third pairing option. Hardly a sign of a player playing protected minutes. If he supplies the Gleason quality of showing up every day for work in a bad mood, he adds more than his stats to the squad.
Dominik Bonk is a late first round 2019 pick projected to be a top 6 player in the NHL. Given there is little chance any one in NC has even seen a highlight reel on the 19 year old, it may be a bit soon to label him a “bust” or another “Cliif Pu”. This acquisition will take more than 2 hours to evaluate. Hopefully the team can convince him to move to Charlotte where we can watch his development closer.
Here are my “take home points” on the deal. We lost Faulk. That was inevitable. We picked up a defensively capable, mouth breathing knuckle dragger on the back line. That will be an asset. The forwards are sent a message that the season will start with the best of those currently in camp on the squad. Time to earn your slot.
This move rounds out the physical part of our defense that otherwise was lacking. And we all know it’s cost controlled. In all, this move adds snarl with a bit of PK and playoff winning experience, well done DW.
I think we keep Forsling at 7D, and trade Fleury. Bean starts in CLT and is first callup. Priskie (if healthy) pairs with Edmundson until TVR returns.
I am not happy about this. Next year we were going to have cap space. 7 yrs at 6.5. We could have done that. A guy that wanted to be here, just wanted to get paid. Edmundson May help physically but he is not Faulk. What was wrong with 5 top 4 D? IMO our D is not as good as last year. I guess we have the ability to promote our prospect D with UFAs coming next year. I guess the season will tell. I think we took a step back. Bokk could grow into something. It probably would make sense to get him over here where we could control his development. Anyway, not thrilled. Faulk was a 30 point point guy, consistently.
Apparently we retained $676,667 of Faulk’s cap space, lessening the value of the trade as a cap dump by that amount.
I am always shocked to see when a player like Eddy/Joey is discussed, how many fancy stats fanalysts raise the same tired old objections. Most of them weren’t high on Justin Faulk in the first place.
What we have with Mr. Edmundson is a much needed competent defense minded defenseman who brings a badly needed physical dimension on the level of a Michael Ferland to our team.
Stats can’t measure the importance of such a contribution. If my theory stated earlier was correct, Willy will now be willing to return.
At that point, will anyone be willing to snark and say that we are a lesser team than we were?
No snark. On D we traded a very talented defenseman that has offensive and defensive abilities. One who upgraded his game under Brind’Amour and played very well in the playoffs.
In return we get a slower, physical defenseman with little offensive output. One who was a healthy scratch in the playoffs this past season.
The old school fighting/physical play you reference is of minor importance. No chance that has anything to do with Williams’ decision.
Even though the contract economics dictated this trade, the Hurricanes are a lesser team after this trade.
Last year Edmundson scored 7 pts in 22 playoff games, which was most of the playoffs. Career totals 14 pts in 49 playoff games. He just won the Cup and was trusted enough to play in the pinnacle of all contests, Game 7. I think he’ll do this team justice by bringing physicality and toughness, he just needs a few games off here or there the way he plays the game.
Hockey players don’t rest in the playoffs.
Fair enough. Players do get banged up in the playoffs though, so there could have been more to not playing every game. We will never know.
What were the constraints facing Waddell? He needed to reduce the payroll to get cap compliant. He was loaded with competent defensemen. He had a defenseman who was entering last year of his contract wanting big money AND a no trade agreement.
What did Waddell do? He got cap compliant. He freed up some space for some of our young defensemen either this year or next. He didn’t give 6.5 million for 7 years with a no trade clause for the duration of the contract. He did get a fill-in defenseman with some bite to his game to cover until our defensive prospects mature into top line NHL caliber defensemen.
What’s not to like? Is the difference between Faulk and Edmundson so significant that it will result in us missing the playoffs when we have already added Gardiner to replace Faulk?
I’m willing to buy in to this deal but if Edmundson flops I’ll deny I ever wrote this blurb and say I told you so.
Matt. I always appreciate your insights and personal views—really agree that the business side of these transactions have much that seems unfair.
I also think the commenters make this site a place where I learn much.
Having said that, there are numerous points that I think could made better with precision:
1) Plus/minus has its flaws, but has truly gone from being overused to under appreciated. It has flaws—including empty net goals being the most obvious. Still, the Canes were exactly even on special teams last season scoring 44 power play goals and giving up 44 power play goals. The only way for the Canes to win was at even strength—so the players who helped the Canes win were its +/- leaders. In context, this stat still has quite a bit of interpretive value.
2) “Top 4” is misleading for D-men. When top 6 is used for forwards it means players who should be on the second line, but could play on the first if needed. Middle 6 means a third/second line capable forward. I would suggest that Edmundson is bottom 4 D-man. No one would consider him for the top pair. Whereas, Hamilton and Gardiner are top 4. In relation to this article, Faulk is top 4—he and Pesce were the top pair in February last season.
3) Toughness is a chimera. The Canes did not lose to Boston due to toughness in any sense. The Canes lost that series because the PK was ineffective. So having a player like Edmundson who takes more penalties would have only decreased the Canes chances. “Hits” are often considered a significant part of toughness. The Canes as a team had 197 more hits than the Bruins and more than 400 additional hits compared to St. Louis last season. The Canes will win the games this season where they score more goals.
4) The deal is so/so. Much will depend on how the Canes deploy the talent that remains. One thing that few have discussed is that Pesce should be on the 2nd power play. He was the D-man who maximized offensive production when on the ice last season. This should be a case where the “eye-test” is overridden by objective results.
Last night within the first 5 minutes (so it is easy to find on the recording) of Canes Corner RBA made the statement that made an offer to Faulk and his agent. Specifically he said he was there at the draft weekend. RBA thought the offer was fair but Faulk wanted top dollar and RBA didn’t fault him for that. At that time the handwriting was on the wall – Faulk was not going to be part of the long-term plans.
But pretty definitively there were discussions and specifics were discussed.
Teams that are perennial playoff teams build around a core of players. They get the long term, high salary and NTCs. The other players are considered interchangeable and replaceable. Faulk wanted to be part of the Canes core group going forward. “The committee” knows him very well and did not feel comfortable with making him a core defenseman at age 28. The trade had to happen. He has landed closer to home, at a place of his choosing, with an extra $45 million to budget towards a retirement scheduled in 7 years. Well played by both parties. I wish him well.
Before I get started: I wish Justin Faulk all the best in STL. He obviously got the deal he wanted and good for him. He was a big part of our success last season and it was fun to watch him play at a high level in meaningful games. That will always be my memory of him in a Canes uniform, far more than the frustrating oopses that we saw in prior seasons.
I have been on record saying that I wanted to keep Faulk. I believe we have plenty of offense and I’d rather roll into the season with a deeper defense (which is the primary reason I believe our goal-tending improved and we went so deep in the playoffs – both debatable points) even if it meant losing him for nothing as a UFA. I guess I was always expecting the return for Faulk in any trade to be more offense – that’s not actually what happened.
I think most of us here believed that we needed to use Hamilton on the PP more last year, and now with Gardiner here this year there just wasn’t going to be enough PP time to go around. The real issues with losing Faulk (if for more offense) was going to be the hole left on the PK and team toughness. I actually think that we addressed both those issues with Edmundson. We certainly didn’t lose any team toughness in the process of losing Faulk, who was our edgiest defenseman, and Edmundson plays a defense-leaning set of minutes especially on the PK. So on balance, Edmundson is a very reasonable return as a player who fills two important needs on this roster.
I have to admit that I was worried about how a thinner and less experienced defense would look without Faulk but getting a defenseman in return makes me feel much better than I expected. I’m not sure we’re actually a worse team given that the skillsets of players we have now much better suited for ALL the roles on defense, with less overlap than before. That’s a very good thing. And we have the same depth because we have the same number of experienced defenders.
At a higher level, this trade also says quite a bit about TD/GMDW’s roster-building strategy – a subject for another post that I hope we can discuss more broadly – that makes it clear that Management has a very clear idea of what kind of team is needed to be successful in today’s NHL and is committed to making the changes necessary to icing that kind of team. We saw how effective our style of play is over the 2nd half of last season so there is reason to believe that this vision is accurate. I think management believes this trade moves the team more in the direction of the vision or they would not have done this deal for this return.
(BTW, was STL ever mentioned anywhere as a trade-partner? Goes to show you how limited our collective vision actually is.)
It’s worth noting that TD/GMDW have a bias toward action; in fact, more than any other team, the Canes seem to make taking action look easy – you almost wonder why more teams aren’t more active with more players. I believe it has to do with the confidence that our Management has in their vision and their tactics for achieving it. The Skinner trade, the roster makeover, the UFA’s we signed, the players we traded for, and now the Faulk trade – there is clearly a method to this that we should expect to continue into the future.
What a time to be a Canes fan.
Like you I expected this trade to have a forward as the primary return. (My fantasy was Faulk plus Toronto’s first for a top 3 headliner.) Retrospectively, I think I overvalued Faulk as a trade asset, especially given this return for a player who has been “available” for a long time. Unlike some, I’ve seen his trade as inevitable, even before Gardiner was signed on a team friendly deal. Given this deal did not include a plug and play top liner leads me to the conclusion that “the committee” likes the offensive options that exist now. That kind of confidence is so much better than the old statement from management, “I really like this team.”
If you like action you have to credit Tom Dundon. Since he is part of the decision a GM doesn’t have to worry about getting bashed if it doesn’t work out. Pretty sure that’s how things worked under Karmanos. Hard to pull the trigger if you think it may cost you your job.
TD is giving DW a license to spend money – which PK did not offer RF. But in terms of RF’s inability to do a single NHL-level “hockey trade” during his tenure, I think that was more his style of build from within. And that style may have been required because he was getting the money to do real signings or make real trades for players with salary. From what I understand PK was pretty much hands-off except for the money.
A good compilation of trade revues from the pundits and statistical analysis of the players. https://mynhltraderumors.com/nhl-trade-st-louis-blues-acquire-justin-faulk-from-the-carolina-hurricanes/2019/09/24/ Even though I have no idea who Mike Scheig is, I love his quote.
Definitely mixed feelings about this one. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Faulk thrive in St. Louis, but also wouldn’t be surprised if the speed of the game blows past him in a couple years. Part of me wanted to just rent Faulk for this year.
Hard to judge this trade until we see what becomes of Bokk. I am glad that they got a D back who can play the PK, that’s glaring need with Gardiner and Hamilton not really ideal PKers.
The biggest upside to me is that Canes will be forced to move on from a PP that seemed to be run only through Justin Faulk and his slap shot. Once upon a time, it worked wonderfully. Then, not so much. Hoping to see Gardiner and Hamilton on PP1 and a dramatic turnaround for that woeful unit.
Yeah, it’s fun to be a Canes fan, ad I’m excited to ee how this season plays out.
The Hockeybuzz concensus is that the canes won the trade, not so much the trade but no one thought signing Faulk to a 7 year contract at 6.5 mill was a good idea.
What’s done is done, nw to just go play, win, make the playoffs again. It on’t be easy, I think the Devils are going to be good, Rangers could be and the Flyers are going to be eager to rove themselves, but if our players live up to expectation and if we can sort the PP issues we have a pretty damn good squad.
Thank you Matt for the article and thank you everyone else for the posts. This trade kind of surprised me and took awhile to digest, with all the various analysis helpful.
This could be a hockey trade that makes both teams better. There are a few stats or angles that I haven’t seen explored yet so here they are.
Although the consensus is that the canes traded a 5’11” offensive D man for a 6’4” defensive D man, which is directionally true, Edmundson had 1 goal, 6 assists in the playoffs while Faulk had 1 goal, 7 assists in the playoffs. Edmundson played 22 games to Faulk’s 15, but with a Stanley Cup on the line against the league’s best, the production wasn’t dramatically different. Of course it is a small sample size.
When discussing forward call-ups, RBA has said “…we already have one of those”, and the concept applies to Faulk. The Canes have already have 2 offensive defenseman, with 6’6” Hamilton and 6’2” Gardiner. 6’3” Slavin and 6’3” Pesce are arguably not far behind. Now we have a 6’4” enforcer in the mix who just won the cup and is good on the PK.
This is a better blend and I prefer the tough guy to be a big defender instead of a big forward. As an old timey hockey fan myself I believe the canes needed this blend. It has always been the case with NHL refs that they won’t defend your players (by calling penalties) if you won’t defend them yourself (with enforcement). The value of competent enforcement goes far beyond individual stats in secondary and tertiary implications.
Bokk is icing on the cake. Like any 1st rounder only time will tell if he develops into the player he should be, but I am delighted to have him in the mix.
Another fun stat: according to Corsica Hockey player rankings, and used by the Daily Faceoff, Faulk was #12 RD while Gardiner is #12 LD. Pretty even swap.
Here are the hurricanes current line combinations with player rankings:
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/carolina-hurricanes/line-combinations/
PS Edmundson was listed as #40 LD yesterday but is now showing as #55 LD. Still maps to second pairing but lower than yesterday. How could that change in the off-season? Hmmm…