St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk could be on the move this summer, insider Nick Kypreos claims.
Kypreos included Faulk in his Off-Season Trade Board, citing Blues GM Doug Armstrong’s desire to improve the team as the rationale behind moving Faulk.
When looking at the Blues’ cap situation, there’s reason to believe Kypreos could be right. PuckPedia reports St. Louis has a shade over $5 million in cap space. That situation makes it tough for the Blues to add further pieces to boost the team.
As it stands, the Blues don’t have any big-name free agents to re-sign. The two biggest UFAs from this past season are Radek Faksa and Ryan Suter.
However, the Blues will need to figure out what to do about their backup goaltending situation. This past season’s backup, Joel Hofer, is an RFA and will be looking for a new contract. Beyond that, the Blues could be looking to find suitable replacements for Suter and Faksa.
It’s worth pointing out that the club signed Suter last fall as news of Torey Krug’s injury forced the Blues to find another capable body on the blue liner. Now that Krug has all but retired, the Blues will need to figure out if Suter and Faulk are part of the team’s plans moving forward.
Personally, the scenario in which I can see the Blues moving Faulk and his $6.5 million cap hit is if the Blues find themselves forced to replace other injured players.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case at this point.
Trading Justin Faulk makes no sense for St. Louis Blues
Kypreos cited that Faulk had been on the board at various points this past season. Most notably, Faulk was reportedly shopped as the Blues seemed unlikely to make the postseason.
But as the Blues closed the gap on the final wild card spot heading into the deadline, the Blues became buyers instead of sellers.
At this point, with the St. Louis Blues poised to have another successful season, trading Justin Faulk makes no sense. If anything, I’ve cited Cam Fowler and Nick Leddy as trade candidates as they will be UFAs next summer.
Plus, the Blues have a solid blue line for this upcoming season. Faulk joins Fowler and Leddy, along with Colton Parayko and Philip Broberg, as a reliable, if unspectacular, blue line core. In my estimation, the only real spots up for grabs would be the sixth and seventh defenseman roles.
That’s why I don’t see the Blues moving Justin Faulk at this point unless there’s a really good offer on the table for him. I can see a team desperate for an upgrade on defense making a run at landing the 33-year-old Faulk.
But there’s one thing Blues fans should keep in mind: Broberg, Dylan Holloway, and Alexandre Texier will be RFAs after this upcoming season. So, that’s when cap space will become a serious issue.
Perhaps at that point, we could see Faulk getting moved during the final year of his current deal.