According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, the Detroit Red Wings are considered the frontrunners for defenseman Justin Faulk if the Blues end up moving him before the deadline. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, there is confidence that the two teams were able to place a trade call before the deadline.
TSN’s Darren Dreger shares that a first- and third-round pick are headed to St. Louis. Additionally, Dreger added that Justin Holl is also going to the Blues. Both teams have confirmed the trade, with the Red Wings announcing that prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov is also included in the trade. The first-round pick will be Detroit’s first this season and carries no protection per Max Bultman of The Athletic, whereas the third-round selection will be the one they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier today for Elmer Söderblom.
Detroit was known to be looking for a right-handed top-four defenseman, and there were few options better than Faulk available. Despite being a competitive team this season, the Red Wings had little else on the blue line behind Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider.
Not only will Faulk help stabilize Detroit’s defensive corps this season, but he’ll be around next year, too. Thanks to his seven-year, $45.5MM contract extension with the Blues, Faulk is signed through next season at a relatively affordable $6.5MM cap hit. Additionally, he’ll only be owed $4.5MM in actual salary. He does have a 15-team no-trade clause in his contract, but there’s no word if he had to waive it to move to HockeyTown.
At this stage of his career, Faulk has become a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He topped out with a 50-point performance with the Blues in the 2022-23 season, but hasn’t gotten close to those totals since.
Still, he has remained a complete player. Over the last three years, Faulk has averaged six goals and 31 points in 66 games, with over 22 minutes of ice time per game. Furthermore, he consistently blocks over 100 shots a season, which will benefit the trio of Edvinsson, Seider, and Ben Chiarot, each of whom has blocked over 100 shots this season.
Unfortunately, although he can offer help on the Red Wings’ power play and penalty kill, Faulk won’t do much to diminish Detroit’s goal-scoring woes at even strength. Of his 94 points throughout the last three seasons, 28 of those have come with a man advantage.
Meanwhile, the Blues will come out of today’s deadline with a pair of first-round picks in exchange for a few aging veterans. They were already known to be one of the few sellers entering deadline season, and have set themselves up nicely for Alexander Steen to take over as the next General Manager.
Holl will only serve as a warm body for the rest of the regular season. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season after watching his three-year, $10.2MM ($3.4MM AAV) contract expire.
It was a foregone conclusion that Holl wouldn’t be a part of the Red Wings’ plans this season, but there was little hope the team would be able to clear his salary off the books. After clearing waivers earlier this year, Holl, 34, has spent the entire season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring two goals and 14 points in 41 games with a +19 rating.
Additionally, the Blues have also acquired a very intriguing prospect in Buchelnikov. The 22-year-old was drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Red Wings and has been in the KHL ever since.
He’s made waves in the KHL over the past three years. Playing on three different teams, Buchelnikov has scored 41 goals and 106 points in 159 games. There will be a notable jump once he transitions to professional life in North America, but that’s extremely productive for a younger player in the top professional league on the other hemisphere.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.
Steve’s selling, he’s not giving anything up to make us better! 😡
How is he selling by giving up draft picks for an established player?
He is having a good season
The first good defenceman acquisition of the Yzerplan
good trade
Got a couple 1st rounders for Schenn and Faulk thats pretty impressive.
Good deal for both sides. Great return for the Blues and Faulk will def help Detroit.
Good trade for both teams. The Blues should have a great draft and future.
Agree with King of Cards. A couple of first rounders for Schenn and Faulk is a haul for the Blues.
This is a terrible move by Yzerman due to his failure once again to secure some much-needed offensive firepower.
Had he acquired Thomas or Trocheck, I would be more willing to accept trading a first-round pick for a soon to be 34-year-old. Not to mention a third-round pick was also included.
It’s not that he’s a bad player or anything. He’s been a solid NHL player for a while now. It’s the bigger picture. This move does not move the needle because they need so much more on the offensive end. It’s going to be a waste of a first-round pick.
Trades still not processed yet. Keep your panties on.
If this Faulk trade happens, Wings get a 32 point D man sitting between Sieder and Edvinsson in earned points this season. A minus 3 rating for a D on Blues having a rough season is also a plus. Hope this gets done.
It does nothing in the big picture. They got thumped and exposed the other night against Carolina. They need offense. They need impact offensive players.
Yzerman is going to come out tomorrow and say that the price was too high for Thomas and Trocheck but gives up a first and third for Faulk. It’s not a knock against Faulk, though.
now, after reading all of the details. OVERPAY by the Wings. Was looking forward of one day, getting to see Buchnelikov. 1st & 3rd. OUCH
Just because you don’t like him, doesn’t make it an overpay.
Oh it’s an overpay because the market was set so high.