A SERIOUS DISCUSSION - Justin Faulk

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Justin Faulk
Age: 22
6'0", 215 lbs
Career: 180 GP, 18G, 51 A, -24, 5.5% SH%
Last Season: 76GP, 5G, 27A, -9, 3.3% SH%, +3.5

Overall, Faulk had a fairly good season as a 21 year old, playing on the top pairing and going against the toughest competition, but he struggled with consistency as the season went on. He was fairly consistent at the beginning of the season, but towards the middle to late part of the season, he'd had games where he was outstanding and games where he was down right terrible. Although he had a career year with 32 points, his offense, particularly on the PP has not developed like many had hoped.

This year, it will be key for Faulk to be more consistent, especially as the season progresses and if he can develop his offense a little more, he could be a true top pairing guy.

What are your expectations for Faulk this year?

DISCUSS!

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[Boom Boom Apathy]

Faulk had 15 points in 38 games two years ago, which equates to 32 over 82 game season, and 32 points last year. I think he can at least hit that again this year, barring major injury.

 

[DaveG]

voted 30-40 but I think he'll be on the high end of that spectrum

 

[What the Faulk]

I'll be optimistic for once and say that Faulk takes another small step forward and irons out some consistency. He played 45 seconds more per game than he had when he was a rookie, and 10 more NHL games than he did that year as well. With no Olympics to worry about, I think we'll see a steadier version of him this year. I don't know that it'll amount to anything more in the goals column since he's never had an overpowering or sneaky good shot, but I think assists top 30 with bounce-back years from some of the forwards. On the back end, I expect fewer abysmal games where he and Sekera were the worst players on the ice (Tampa Bay in January springs to mind).

 

[Oenatzu]

Can't believe he's still only 22 years old.

 

[Novacane]

26 points

 

[nobuddy]

7-27-34. Steps up his overall game tremendously.

 

[spockBokk]

11G-25A-36points-if he stays relatively healthy. I think he'll hit b/t 30-40pts regularly over his career, and hopefully better than that if he can refine his PP skills.

 

[Identity404]

I think he has more success on the PP this year, 44 points.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Y'all are optimistic! I voted 20-30. I'd be thrilled with 5G 20A and some solid defense. I want him to focus mostly on being consistently positionally solid throughout the year, game in and game out.

Either way, it's amazing we have a true top pairing of Faulk, who is 22 and signed to a good deal, and Sekera, who just turned 28, and has one year of super cheap contract left. They both bring good offense to the table and play the stick well. And Faulk can lay out a massive hit every couple of games. Few teams have 2 top pairing guys under 30. Seriously when was the last time this happened for our team?

We absolutely have to re-sign Sekera. Please.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Y'all are optimistic!

Not sure why you say that. 16 of the 34 votes are saying 30-40 range.

His pace 2 years ago was 32 points (for a full season) and he had 32 points in 76 games last season which is right in the 30-40 category. You think it's optimistic that he might hit at the same (or a little better) scoring pace as he had for the last two years?

 

[bleedgreen]

I think 30-40. Above that would put him in pretty elite company I think, and I just don't see it happening yet. I do think he'll step forward a bit in confidence with the puck overall. He's coming along.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

I don't know what I have against Faulk, but I just don't think he's that good. Obviously the vast majority would disagree...and I think in this case even *I* disagree with me. If that makes sense. For some reason I'm just blah about him.

 

[BrindAmours Army]

I'm hoping for 30-35pts, with more consistent play. Assuming Sekera comes back down to Earth this year, Faulk won't have as many points coming from him. But I think he will have some slight improvement offensively, and hopefully be more consistent overall.

 

[bleedgreen]

I don't know what I have against Faulk, but I just don't think he's that good. Obviously the vast majority would disagree...and I think in this case even *I* disagree with me. If that makes sense. For some reason I'm just blah about him.

I'm with you, I think of him in similar terms most of the time. Most of the board does seem to put him much higher in terms of this league than I would. I think he plays the amount and the role he does essentially by default and due to the fact jr kinda assigned him to be the guy. We talk of how when some of our players leave us, they can't even stay in the league. Just because Faulk plays a huge role for us doesn't mean he'd play that role on other teams.

For the amount we play him and now pay him he's gonna get pp time. He's skilled enough that if we have a fairly decent pp 30+ pts isn't out of reach.

I like that he's still young enough to have ample growth ahead of him. I still don't view him as top pairing quality, tbh.

 

[What the Faulk]

I know this is the Faulk thread and Ryan Murphy's isn't for a few days, but I ran into him last night (among a few others) and it looked like he grew a bit. Faulk was there too and I want to say Murphy was taller than him. I'm 5'11" and Murphy was noticeably taller than me, but still pretty lean compared to the others. Doesn't really mean anything as far as ability to play goes of course, but he's not really a smurf anymore.

 

[Unsustainable]

Nothing suggests he will be higher or lower then his average, unless he breaks out on the PP.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I like the poll

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I don't know what I have against Faulk, but I just don't think he's that good. Obviously the vast majority would disagree...and I think in this case even *I* disagree with me. If that makes sense. For some reason I'm just blah about him.

I can see that and I think it's a combination of things.
First, he doesn't really have 1 trait that really stands out, even though he does a lot of things fairly well. You'll never see him dominate a game like a Weber, Chara, Suter, Keith, Doughty, Karlsson, etc... can do.
Second, he gets thrown into that role at such a young age because, frankly, the team has no other choice, whereas on a top team, he'd get more sheltered minutes.
Third, he's still very inconsistent. He'll have games where I say, wow, he played a great game. And then games where I say, man, he was one of the worst players on the ice. I noticed more and more bad games as the season progressed last year and to me, it seemed (my opinion only) mental as much as physical.

That said, I think we are many times harder on "our own" players than on players from other teams because we get to see a lot more of their faults more often. Both Maurice and Muller raved about him, about how he handles anything they throw at him, etc.. USA hockey thought enough to pick him, even if he didn't play much, so others who are more unbiased think more highly of him.

Still, to me if he wants to be considered a top defenseman, he HAS to be more consistent. I realize he was a young guy thrown into a top role early on, but he can't have as many lapses and bad games going forward.

 

[NotOpie]

BBA - I think you're seeing things the way I do....but I believe that Faulk just wore down....he played big minutes and his mental toughness was challenged. In addition, by the end of the year he was pretty much fried physically too. There were many more mistakes and mediocre games in the last 20 than in the first 60.

 

[cptjeff]

I think he has more success on the PP this year, 44 points.

Kind of my thinking. Our powerplay really should be vastly improved with new coaching, it can't get worse- and Faulk will see significant PP time, which is when Defensemen tend to rack up most of their points. And he's at the age where most Dmen are just beginning to find their legs in the NHL, so it's not unreasonable for him to step forward in his game overall. I think he's got at least 50% odds of hitting 40.

 

[DougieSmash]

In the thread "Kris Letang is the best OFD in the world"

Faulk will be top 3 sooner than later. But Letang has had an incredible year, he should the Norris IMO.

 

[What the Faulk]

All defensemen (>1550 minutes all situations):

-Giordano was up there with Brodie, and his circle was larger and darker blue, but the injury probably killed his Norris chances. It's unfortunate, because he was having a great year, even if he had an also excellent partner.

-Letang is the circle directly right of OEL, and you can see that he's excelling. Compare that to Karlsson and Yandle, who don't really kill penalties, and get softer minutes. I would probably call him the best OFD and the Norris winner if I had a vote.

-Faulk shows very well against his contemporaries. The trick will be to see how he handles business without Sekera attached to his hip. In the five games since he's been gone, Faulk is at 64.5 CF% at 5v5 and has more starts in the defensive zone than offensive. He also has 4 total points. So far, so good.

 

[Ole Gil]

Comparing defensmen with statistical overviews is just so tough. It's not surprising they usually just say fit, and pick the one with the most points.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Y'all are optimistic! I voted 20-30. I'd be thrilled with 5G 20A and some solid defense. I want him to focus mostly on being consistently positionally solid throughout the year, game in and game out.

Either way, it's amazing we have a true top pairing of Faulk, who is 22 and signed to a good deal, and Sekera, who just turned 28, and has one year of super cheap contract left. They both bring good offense to the table and play the stick well. And Faulk can lay out a massive hit every couple of games. Few teams have 2 top pairing guys under 30. Seriously when was the last time this happened for our team?

We absolutely have to re-sign Sekera. Please.

I still hope we re-sign Sekera. Our D is Faulk & scrubs. Good God Hainsey looks overslotted and the Rissanen / Murphy pairing is bordering on disaster.