Justin Faulk - expect BIG things
 

Everyone's talking about Justin Schultz and his red hot start this season in the AHL, but Justin Faulk is right up there among the league leaders as well with 2-9-11 in 7 gp. When you consider that he is a full two years younger than Schultz I think his numbers are even more impressive. I think many poolies don't realize just how extraordinarily good Faulks development has been over the past year; highlighted by a brilliant showing at the WC (4-4-8, +7 in 8 gp). A few GMs in my league were surprised when i took faulk 8th ov in our entry draft this summer ahead of the likes of Murray, Dumba, Rielly, Gardiner among others. but i am a huge believer in him, not just because of his on ice skill but his dedication to the game; he reminds me of kris letang in that sense. This kid is going to burst onto the fantasy scene in the very near future and I recommend acquiring him while the price is still reasonable.

Don't just take it from me, here's canes GM Jim Rutherford with some pretty high praise:
"Yes," he said during his annual "State of the Canes" address to fans. "Playing defense in the NHL is very difficult and playing at 19 is even more difficult. But as long as I've been around the game, even as far back as when I played, I've never seen anyone handle the position like Justin Faulk has as a teenager." The organization is certainly holding out hope that Faulk is able to duplicate that effort in 2012-13 in order to create some measure of continuity along the back end. "We've had defensemen come into the League like [Bobby] Orr, [Denis] Potvin and [Phil] Housley, who were great offensive players, but I've never seen a player play so well defensively and offensively at his age," Rutherford said. "I can't describe it well enough to tell [fans] what they're in store for having this great young player." (Source: nhl.com)

i drafted faulk early in his draft year and have loved what ive seen. he logs huge minutes and seems to get better every game.
im looking forward to his progression.

Faulk... maybe.

One of the things about prospects is that stepping between levels isn't the same for everybody. Some guys can be a 9.0 in their junior league (Landeskog) and then make a jump to the NHL and still be an 8.0. Other guys can be a 9.0 (Robbie Schremp) and then the jump to the NHL isn't something they can handle. Some guys can dominate in juniors or the AHL and then just can't make the step to the NHL.
I completely agree that Faulk has looked great at junior levels, but I'm still a doubter that he'll make a jump to the upper-tier of offensive NHL defensemen.

Additionally, most teams (such as CAR) prefer to run their PP D-men as one lefty & one righty to open up shooting lanes.

Carolina's defensemen:
LEFTIES:
Joni Pitkanen
Jaro Spacek
Tim Gleason

RIGHTIES:
Joe Corvo
Justin Faulk
Jamie McBain
Ryan Murphy

There's quite a bit of offensive competition on the Right-side for PP-time in Carolina.
They just signed Joe Corvo (a less-than-stellar defensive defenseman), which would be a very questionable move if they don't play him on the PP.

If Faulk can get that PP1 time, he's going to be a very nice fantasy hockey asset.
But can he beat the rest of that group short-and-long term for that spot... I don't know... {EDIT: based on the aging Pitkanen & Corvo's one-year contract, I'd say he'll be on PP1 within a year.}

While I agree that Faulk is a great prospect and showed he can handle some tough minutes at the NHL level, let's take his point totals so far with a grain of salt for 5 reasons.

1. Increased talent around him because of the lockout
2. Small sample size
3. Corey Locke
4. Alexander Giroux
5. Keith Aucoin

I really don't think there is much competition for him in Carolina, the organization is basically gushing their collective panties for him and he already led the teams defense in average TOI down the stretch last season.

As for the sample size, I agree it's small but it's the trend you should be focusing on: the kids development curve is almost a vertical line over the past year.

Also Rob, personally i think 3 of your 5 reasons (giroux, Locke and aucoin) really don't make sense as they are all forwards; if anything I would also like to know what kind of AHL numbers they were putting up at 20 YEARS OLD. Not to mention I don't really see any increase in talent around him on that Charlotte team:
http://theahl.com/mobile/?t=mobile_r...4&bblh=mSafari

Your posts are exactly the reason I made mine, this kid doesn't get nearly enough love.. All I'm saying is that will change. Soon...

Faulk is an awesome talent and is criminally overlooked because of the team he plays for.

i agree. he could become one of the elite offensive players in the league.
who cares what he is doing in the ahl this year (although it can't be entirely overlooked)...
but you can't ignore how he handled himself in the nhl last year. everyone is going to wish they had this guy in a few years time...

Issue... He's defensively responsible. That makes him one of a few in Carolina. They have plenty of PP options but not so many defensive options. Makes it easier to utilize him in a heavy minutes/PK role rather than a more offensive role which thus limits his upside. And with McBain/Corvo/Pitkanen and Murphy on the way I don't see this changing.

Meanwhile, Schultz basically is being handed the #1PPQB role behind a core of young star forwards.

true. but it won't be long before corvo and pitkanen will be non-factors. you could argue that corvo is almost there already. he certainly isn't going to stand in faulk's way... either is pitkanen. if anything, pitkanen is the guy who will carry less of an offensive role moving forward. mcbain - still waiting. and murphy and faulk is a great offensive duo moving forward... maybe mcbain enters the equation, maybe not.

my thoughts here have nothing to do with schultz (where did he come from in this discussion?)

Pitkanen a writeoff? He's a fantastic d-man just had the injury bug lately.

And Schultz was in OP's first sentence...