Justin Faulk

[callitwhatyouwant]

In the midst of a chaotic start. Justin Faulk has managed to keep his game in check and be at a -2 while logging lots of ice time on a team giving up a ton of goals. He's putting together a 45 point pace season to start the year. It was clear to those who were watching without hate goggles that he was turning his game around last year. His offense wasn't as crisp but his defensive game was getting more responsible. It looks like he is back in his opportunistic groove.

Faulk, love him or hate him, as been a consistent producer since he has been wearing the note. Very steady guy. Whether this level of play can continue remains to be seen. But it's a bright spot of consistency for the season.

[Pierre McGuire]

He’s been a good player for the Blues since he arrived. Love Faulk but hopefully he brings back a good return.

[Hooking]

He is the new JBo.
Everyone hated him but he is actually really reliable and good. It took a cup for people to realize how good Jbo was. Faulk may never get that but he has been solid his entire time with the Blues. Reasonable people have seen it.

[moose-and-squirrel]

He is the new JBo.
Everyone hated him but he is actually really reliable and good. It took a cup for people to realize how good Jbo was. Faulk may never get that but he has been solid his entire time with the Blues. Reasonable people have seen it.

agree with both of you. never understood the flak he gets

[callitwhatyouwant]

He is the new JBo.
Everyone hated him but he is actually really reliable and good. It took a cup for people to realize how good Jbo was. Faulk may never get that but he has been solid his entire time with the Blues. Reasonable people have seen it.

There is something about players getting paid that triggers a fan base when it's not their favorite player. I don't know why it happens, but it turns them into the whipping boy. Faulk was never the flashy guy so it ended up being the trigger point. Krug absorbed most of the flak for a bit and when they didn't have him to turn to, Faulk got set in their sights. You really didn't see as much Faulk hate until last year when ironically both Leddy and Krug were out of the lineup. Let's not forget, before the Faulk hate happened, Parayko was coming off of it about 2 years prior. More than half the fan base seemingly was calling to have Parayko traded. I had to sit there that season 3 years ago and say who are you trading him for? As soon as you trade him, you are looking for another Parayko, and he will cost a lot more than 6.5m.


Anyways, hopefully he can keep this consistent play up. 40+ at 6.5 as a defender would be a great value season.

[LuvthaBlues]

Thanks for this thread, I’ll chime in before it gets hijacked. He was a solid add at the time and he’s been a great Blue for his tenure. While I’m not exactly gonna run out and buy his jersey, I’m grateful for his contributions over the years and I’ll always wish the guy luck in the future!

LGB!

[Bubble4427]

Faulk is a first class guy and player.
Never regretted getting him for a second….

[MiamiLaw]

He’s been up and down. People here are acting like he’s always been good and there’s been no reason to complain but he’s had his long stretches of down play for anyone being objective.u

That being said, when he’s playing well, which he is right now, he is a very solid player.

[11WSChamps]

Lack of physicality in front of the net is my only real gripe about Faulk in his time here but that's not really his game and the Blues knew that when they acquired him.

He fits into the long time Blues philosophy of puck moving jump into the play defensemen.

I'd give him a grade of B in his time here.

Like him or not the one thing you never say about Faulk is that he mails it in unlike some others who do that frequently.

[britishblue]

Faulk is a v solid top 4 RHD, and is playing as such.

I just find it mad this is his 7th season as a Blue, and by extension 7th season since we won the cup.

Still seems like yesterday.

[TheHighHat]

Faulk is a pro and his contract has become much more palatable as his cap % has shrunk.

The problem is if he is your #2 or #3 d-man you have a mediocre team at best. That's the Blues.
He is much better at being slotted as a #4 on a good team.

If we're out of it in late February - early March I would move him at this TDL while he still has a year left on his deal.
That way the acquiring team will have at least 2 playoff runs with him which adds to his trade value.
Keep in mind he'll be 34 near this seasons TDL.

A typical Blues (non) move will be to hold on to him for next season because they want to "stay competitive" and because of our dearth of RHD. However, his value will be quite a bit less at 35 as strictly a rental in March 2027.

We should trade him back to where we got him.
Carolina desperately needs 2 positions: 2C and a RHD that can play 2nd pair minutes.
The Canes when healthy are loaded at LHD with Slavin, Miller, Nikishin, and Gostisbehere.
Chatfield, Faulk, and Walker would be their RHD in my scenario.

Carolina has 1st round picks to spend and plenty of dry powder in cap space to make a move earlier in the season if they so desire.
I believe most of that cap space will be used on acquiring a 2C though.

Dallas, Vegas, Anaheim, Toronto, & Tampa are other teams off the top of my head that need RHD help.
Rasmus Andersson will be the guy to watch so the RHD dominoes can fall after he is traded.
Does he end up in Vegas or does he agree to go somewhere else (Dallas)?

[hotrivets]

We found out later that when Jbo was playing bad he had a serious injury. I think Faulk has been generally good and dependable but they all go through bad stretches.

I'm not impressed with any of his replacements so far. Getting rid of guys at the deadline without a valid replacement means what- you are tanking to get that great draft pick? Some are fine with that but the Blues need viewers and butts in the seats. You can do something else but they still need to play and run their business and make money. Different motivations.

I would say right now the Blues are right at the threshold of being watchable. Last night sucked but there was plenty of good action also. At some points they were hounding pucks and had good offensive pressure. If Kessel doesn't fall down maybe they close that one out.

[Blues Dave]

Faulk is maintaining at least as well as most of the rest of the team. There isn't one player on this team who can fix everything.

[blackinkbiz]

He is the new JBo.
Everyone hated him but he is actually really reliable and good. It took a cup for people to realize how good Jbo was. Faulk may never get that but he has been solid his entire time with the Blues. Reasonable people have seen it.

There is something about players getting paid that triggers a fan base when it's not their favorite player. I don't know why it happens, but it turns them into the whipping boy. Faulk was never the flashy guy so it ended up being the trigger point. Krug absorbed most of the flak for a bit and when they didn't have him to turn to, Faulk got set in their sights. You really didn't see as much Faulk hate until last year when ironically both Leddy and Krug were out of the lineup. Let's not forget, before the Faulk hate happened, Parayko was coming off of it about 2 years prior. More than half the fan base seemingly was calling to have Parayko traded. I had to sit there that season 3 years ago and say who are you trading him for? As soon as you trade him, you are looking for another Parayko, and he will cost a lot more than 6.5m.

Many players throughout all of sports are undeservingly tagged as whipping boys. Faulk was not one of them. The past 2 seasons, he caught nonstop guff from myself and many others because he deserved it. He was one of the worst defensemen in the NHL over that time. Well, one of the worst for a guy who is supposed to be a borderline All-Star. He was average about 90% of the time most games, but that last 10%...? omg... He couldn't carry the puck for sh*t, couldn't score a goal to save his life, his outlet passes could induce seizure, and he had a propensity for making turnovers that ended up in his own net, especially in close and late, meaningful games.

Had nothing to do with hate, feelings, or the need for a whipping boy. In fact, I daresay his apologists are beyond guilty of what they're accusing others of, judging his game based on feelings instead of evidence.

As proof of my point, I'll give you my analysis of the Justin Faulk we've seen so far this season... He's been f'n awesome! By far, the best Blues defenseman on the ice every night, well, at least every game I've watched. Puck movement, carrying the play, offensive jumps, power play, defense, the whole shebang. He's been better than Parayko, which is something I thought I'd never see again.

You apologists should go back and watch the last few minutes of games after the international tournament when Binner returned this past season and see how Faulk affected the end of games. Yikes

[Moberly Blues]

The Poster said he can't understand the flak he gets because most are fair weather fans of Blues lose a game a certain player is trash .

[Cahokanut]

I think our standards for defense is at a very low level.

Faulk, Fowler, Broberg and Parayko are all having issues almost equally.
Almost As equally as the two we blame for everything.
But, when the problem is almost equally across the board. It's not a player problem.