Blues Acquire Justin Faulk From the Carolina Hurricanes

Overtime Heroics Editorial

2173 days ago

The season may be right around the corner but that doesn’t mean big moves can’t be made. After what seems like months of trade talks Justin Faulk was dealt to the defending Stanley Cup champions St. Louis Blues. The Carolina Hurricanes in return acquired defensemen Joel Edmundson and forward prospect Dominik Bokk and a 7th round pick. The Blues also acquired a 5th round pick from the Hurricanes. After the trade, it was announced Faulk had signed a seven-year extension worth $6.5 million average annual values (AAV).

For the Blues, the defense gets an upgrade. The right side of the defense now includes Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko and Faulk. They might look at flipping one of these guys to the left side and stack the top four but it will be up to head coach Craig Berube on how to best use his guys. Faulk also gives them something they didn’t have last year and that’s a power play quarterback.

Faulk in his career has scored 10 goals or more four times, and he had 11 last year for the Hurricanes. Of his 85 career goals, 40 of them have been on the power play. He was second in points for defensemen with 35 and ten of them came on the power play. The Blues power play was a weakness on the team and with Faulk and new coach Marc Savard, there should be an improvement. They should be commended for not running it back with the same group of players (minus Pat Maroon) Doug Armstrong decided to make a splash for his birthday and got his man. The Hurricanes will be taking on 14% of Faulk’s contract this season so the Blues are cap compliant.

Edmundson was a warrior for the Blues. His offense never came around but he was able to block shots and throw the body around. He played 22 games in the playoffs last season recording a goal and six assists. He has 3.1 million dollars owed to him for one more year before his contract is up. Bokk was a first-round pick for the Blues in 2018 and has a lot of potential. Playing for Germany last year at the World Juniors he showcased that potential with four goals and ten assists in 12 games.

For the Central Division, this is not good news. A bunch of teams have made upgrades in hopes of beating the Blues. The Dallas Stars added Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry to add to what was a less than spectacular offense. The Nashville Predators added Matt Duchene to improve the depth scoring that came up empty at times. The Chicago Blackhawks knew they needed to upgrade the defense so they acquired Olli Maatta and Calvin de Haan. The Colorado Avalanche got their second-line center in Nazem Kadri and added a bunch of young wingers to go with a deadly top line (if Mikko Rantanen re-signs). The Blues after a quiet offseason made their big splash and that should worry teams. The team has been talking about how one isn’t enough and apparently for Armstrong, one isn’t enough either.