A St. Louis Blues defenseman is quietly emerging as a fit for the Maple Leafs

Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

A new article from James Mirtle of The Athletic explores three different trade targets for Toronto with a new face added who could seriously make an impact.

However, the team does lack a lot of moveable assets and unless they decide to mortgage the last little bit of their future, they are going to need to get creative in order to do so.

Justin Faulk emerges as a serious Maple Leafs target

Mirtle wrote that Toronto could be in the market for Justin Faulk, a veteran puck-moving defender who could do a little bit of everything for Toronto while also giving them a bit of a reprieve going forward:

Faulk is older than Andersson and not on his level; thus, he wouldn’t bring the same all-around impact to the Leafs. However, there’s no long-term leash here either as Faulk’s current deal expires after next season.

So, what’s the cost?

The Blues might insist on a first-round pick of some kind, given that Carlo, another right-shooting defender with a year left on his contract, fetched the Boston Bruins a conditional first last spring along with a top prospect in Fraser Minten.

That cost plus the knowledge of Faulk bring in his mid-30’s is a lot to ask for, though Mirtle did note that the team doesn’t need to commit and he does add a lot more than he’d be taking away:

Faulk would offer the Leafs a little more puck-moving juice and big-shot potential. He could take on a major penalty-killing role in Tanev’s absence and man the point of a power-play unit. And, for what it’s worth, Faulk did play for Berube and Mike Van Ryn, who runs the Leafs’ defence, in St. Louis.

So is this actually a feasible deal for the Maple Leafs?

Toronto can’t afford a huge splash so Faulk is a big gamble

Look, there’s a lot of positives to say about Faulk. He gives you a ton of points, scores goals, has a shot (which Toronto desperately needs), can play both PK and PP minutes, has over 1,000 games under his belt and eats a ton of minutes.

In 1,024 career games, Faulk has 479 points (141 goals, 338 assists) as well as 1,407 blocks, 1,608 hits but does come with some defensive burdens being a minus-70.

You know what you’re getting with Faulk when he’s on the ice, and for a team like Toronto who needs stability amidst a lot of injury concerns that’s perfect.

But the cost alone to bring him in will be expensive to say the least and Toronto giving up one of their last true assets in Ben Danford and potentially even a first-round pick; that’s a lot of hope in a player with under 50 career playoff games.

Plus, if the team wants to bring him in, they need to make room for his $6.5-million contract as well as ensure they aren’t on his 15-team no trade list.

History has shown time and time again the team has faltered in acquiring that piece that gives them a push come the postseason, and there is no guarantees that Faulk is the one to get it done.

As desperate as Brad Treliving is to ensure he has help on the backend, he needs to make sure that if he’s going to splurge on a player like Justin Faulk that the return on the ice has to outweigh whatever he gives away.

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A St. Louis Blues defenseman is quietly emerging as a fit for the Maple Leafs

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