Heading into the 2019-20 NHL season fresh off their first Stanley Cup win in franchise history, Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues pulled off an unexpected major trade just before the season began. This of course was the trade that sent defenseman Joel Edmundson, prospect Dominik Bokk, and a seventh-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Justin Faulk and a fifth-round pick. Faulk was an All-Star three seasons in a row from 2015-17 and had recorded 35 points or more in four of the last five seasons. Faulk accordingly so had high expectations from the Blues heading into the season, and thus far his start with the team has not gotten off to as good a start as everyone had hoped.
So far, the Blues have played in 21 regular season games and Faulk has played in all of them. His stat line is underwhelming, as he has only recorded six assists thus far and is yet to find the back of the net despite being seventh on the team in shots on net with 42. Faulk, noted for his solid stats on the power play in his career (40G, 62A), has struggled on the Blues power play as well. He is a regular member on the Blues second power play unit but has only one point on the power play this season which came way back on opening night against the Washington Capitals.
Despite Faulk’s slow start, the Blues should not be overly concerned with his production quite yet. Faulk is in his ninth NHL season and has historically been a slow starter most seasons. Faulk has totaled seven points or fewer in his first 21 games of a season five times now and did it most recently in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, both seasons where Faulk finished north of 30 total points. Faulk was also an All-Star in that 2016-17 campaign after that slow start. Only twice in nine seasons has Faulk reached double digits in points by game number 21 and both of those seasons Faulk was an All-Star. Faulk has also seen longer goal droughts to start a season than his current slump, as he did not score his first goal of the 2013-14 season until game 25. Faulk typically picks up his production in terms of points midseason and should be able to do so as we near December.
It should also be noted that it can take longer for defensemen to become used to their new coach, system, and team as opposed to a forward. Faulk has already been thrown in with a multitude of different defensive partners, which does not help when it comes to consistency either. In a similar situation, Tyson Barrie who was traded to Toronto this past offseason from Colorado, has also struggled to adapt to his new environment. Barrie has put up better offensive statistics than Faulk throughout his career but has the exact same stat line as Faulk (0G, 6A) through 22 games with a whopping -10 rating. Defensemen take some more time to develop with new teams than some people would like and these two should both be just fine in the long run.
Many Blues fans have jumped the gun with their concern over Justin Faulk. He has almost never been the kind of player that comes in and lights it up offensively right away, even when he was with the same team for eight seasons. Faulk will find his consistent game and will hit his stride once he is fully acclimated to the team and defensive system along with finding a regular partner on defense. Once he is able to score that first goal and string together some more points, his confidence will build, and we will once again see the Justin Faulk that has All-Star potential that he has shown the league for nearly the last decade. Just wait it out and let things fall into place over the next couple months before wondering if Faulk was a good acquisition or not for the team. Keep in mind the Blues were an awful defensive team during the first half of the 2018-19 season and made a complete 180 in the second half. Faulk will make the needed adjustments over time and will prove himself worthy down the stretch as the season goes into the winter.
