Justin Faulk

[mcmcpher2]

For League in sig, I have Faulk as my 10th and final keeper. In leagues that count shots/hits I've long felt he was somewhat underrated and overlooked.

With Carolina seemingly on the rise, how do folks view him next year and beyond? Will Slavin cut into his top unit PP time?

Just trying to feel out how actively I should be seeking an upgrade over him by getting a feel for his perceived value around the Dobber community.

Appreciate any feedback.

[FinnishFlash]

Health is becoming an issue with Faulk. He's a productive dman when healthy but has only had one healthy season in his career.

I've seen pretty polarizing opinions of him. If you value him as a 49 point player which he was a few years ago, he actually probably overrated. I'd value him as a 40 point dman that shoots and adds a little to hits (he's actually pretty bad for a dman for blocks).

[Axeman33]

I wouldn't mind seeing your entire roster (who you ARE NOT planning on keeping) instead of just your keepers.

I think he is what he is. I dont expect much more from him that what we already know. And no, I dont expect Slavin to cut into his PP time.

[forsbergfan]

Slavin won't cut into his PP time, but Hanifin might.

[mcmcpher2]

I wouldn't mind seeing your entire roster (who you ARE NOT planning on keeping) instead of just your keepers.

I think he is what he is. I dont expect much more from him that what we already know. And no, I dont expect Slavin to cut into his PP time.

After the season I largely dealt away my next best keeper options to other teams in need. Best of the remaining would be:

Elias Lindholm
Nick Foligno
Anders Lee
Justin Schultz
Kyle Palmieri

[gooding74]

Based on your other players I would probably keep a defenseman. So that would narrow it down to Faulk and Justin Schultz. The rest of the forwards are good, but none of them stand out to me among the others.

Faulk has his injury worries. Kris Letang's injury could cut into Schultz's role, though Letang's injury risk is higher than Faulk's and there's more than enough offense to go around in Pittsburgh. Using last season's totals, Faulk has the better hits and shots on goal, but Schultz is better everywhere else (I consider SHG and GWG to be random stats). I'd strongly consider keeping Schultz.

[RizzeeDizzee]

Slavin won't cut into his PP time, but Hanifin might.

This

[Call of Doughty]

I'd expect a bit of a bounce back year for 2017-18. He still has worth in your league. 225 sog put him tied for 3rd among D man only behind Burns and Buff (tied with Ekblad). 117 hits puts him in about the top 40% of the league - only 73 behind Buff which isn't too shabby. If he didn't sustain that lingering injury (missed 7 games) I'd give him 3-4 more points and that would put him in the top 25 for points only.

I think if Letang is healthy we could see Schultz's and Faulk's point totals fairly similar and we could see a fairly big hit to Shultz's power play totals which were excellent last year. 35% of Faulk's points came off of power play vs 39% for Schultz.

I think Faulk remains the #1 for this coming season. He played 91% of the season last year.

-think he remains the #1 offensive weapon on the back end
-awesome in sog category
-good hits value
-still a top 20-25 point threat among defenceman
-great power play contributor
-had 1 more gwg than Schultz

good luck!

[mcmcpher2]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I don't think there is anyone else left on my roster I'd seriously consider keeping over Faulk, but may still look to upgrade via trade.

[StuntMan12]

Faulk still should be the #1 puck moving defenceman on Carolina even with the break out season by Slavin. I expect Faulk to improve on his numbers last year and get back to the 45-50 pt mark.