Sweet Carolina

Good lord, this is going to be a tough one. Today I’m looking at the Carolina Hurricanes’ roster and it is a decrepit one. There are literally only a few players in the whole organization worth talking about but being consistent with the series I can only pick one and that one player is… Justin Faulk.

This what hockeysfuture.com had to say about Faulk:

Faulk, typical of many of the defensemen trained in the US development program, is an offensive defenseman who is very comfortable with the puck. He possesses a big shot from the point. Despite a stokcy build, he is agile on his skates. Faulk is physically strong and likes to play a physical game, though he can be a bit more disciplined in terms of taking penalties. A quick learner and very coachable, Faulk understands the game well but continues to strive to improve.

The young American isn’t averse to dropping the mitts either as he’s had a couple of memorable ones versus the Washington Capitals’ Troy Brouwer and ex-Florida Panther Steven Weiss. But that’s not why I like him.

Faulk is a 5-tool blueliner that plays in all situations. He can skate, shoot, pass, hit and read the game very very well. He’s a top pairing minute munching defenceman that the Oilers so sorely need and are very much in a position to move on now. The problem is he’s a top pairing defender on a team that has a thin defense. Hurricanes GM Ron Francis loves this kid so much he dealt his no. 1 dman, Andrej Sekera, to the Kings at the trade deadline. So it would take a hell of an offer to convince the Hurricanes to part with Justin Faulk and there’s no reason to believe that Haydyn Fleury is ready to go yet.

If there is any reason that the Hurricanes might look at moving Faulk, it’s that they’d be drafting top rated defenceman Noah Hanifin at this upcoming draft and looking to add some scoring punch to their top 6. It’s a certainty they’re looking for a team to take Alex Semin off their hands as well. A speculator has to wonder if Semin could find his mojo alongside Taylor Hall and Connor McDavid if it scored the Oilers Justin Faulk in the process.

I couldn’t see the Canes wanting Yakupov but could they be tempted with a package that centered around Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz or Leon Draisaitl and the 16th overall pick in return for the former Olympian?

What would you offer for Justin Faulk? Let me know in the comments below and follow me on Twitter (@beerleagueheroe)!

Thanks for reading! Take care!