Among Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman’s “31 Thoughts“:
2. . Trade that might make sense only to me: something around Justin Faulk from Carolina to Detroit for Andreas Athanasiou.
It doesn’t make sense to me. Athanasiou’s ceiling is still high, and the Wings don’t appear to want to move him…yet, anyway.
Update: To make this work cap-wise, the Wings would have to send a defenseman to Carolina as well. Per CapFriendly, Faulk earns $4.83 million dollars per season through 20-21, while Athanasiou is a restricted free agent after this season, with a $1.387 million cap hit.
It makes some sense to me, because you have to give something up to get something. Faulk is only 25, captain of the Hurricanes, and is roughly a .50/game player at defense. If you are going to get a guy like that, you are going to have to give up talent. Also, trading a winger for a top dman is typically a no brainer, as wingers are easier to replace.
That being said, I don’t think Carolina would do the deal, and neither would Detroit. AA is too young to deal, and so it Faulk. Carolina doesn’t need the cap space, so it wouldn’t be a money swap.
Now Nashville, if they put Fabbro and another piece up (2nd round pick, another prospect), I think you’d have something there.
The cap space is a hard one for the Wings to accommodate in this case as Faulk makes $4.83 million…and I just believe that the Wings would want to make space on the blueline.
I don’t see it happening, and I don’t know what Faulk is a guy I’d want, anyways.
He’s at .35 points/game right now, which is significantly lower than his past three seasons. He’s also taken a huge dip in Goals scored.
He’s also going to be 29 when he is up for a new contract, so he’ll probably get north of $6 mil.