In all the chaos of free agency’s opening days last summer, there was one move that was under-the-radar. The St. Louis Blues made a trade, finalized on July 2, to acquire forward Radek Faksa from the Dallas Stars in exchange for future considerations.
It turned out to be a quiet acquisition with a big impact. The forward quickly established himself on his new team and became an integral part of the fourth line, bringing a strong veteran presence on the ice and in the locker room.
“I don’t think Faksa knew how much he learned in Dallas that he could bring to us that was very monumental in us having the proper attitude,” GM Doug Armstrong said. “I think depth players from winning organizations mean a lot, and [Faksa and Ryan Suter] continued my belief that that’s the way to go when you go that direction.”
The 31-year-old finished the season with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) and was a career-high 57 percent at the faceoff dot. The trio of Faksa, Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker was one of the team’s most consistent lines all season and was relied upon by coach Jim Montgomery to set the tone at crucial times.
Faksa is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but could his one-year stint with the Blues be extended? Armstrong is certainly open to the idea.
“He and I had a good conversation,” Armstrong said after the season. “It’s something that I want to reflect back on. We want to grow, we have young players that we want to grow, but we don’t want to disregard what he meant to us… That line was our identity. I’ve seen what an identity line can do.”
Armstrong says he will let the dust settle on the season before making any decisions on the future. He wants to have time to talk to his management team and the coaches, and wants to allow the player that time to reflect as well. But Faksa may want to keep an eye on his phone.
“[Faksa] and Suter specifically came in – veteran players, one-year deals – and they gave us everything that we could want and more,” Armstrong said. “And ‘Faks’ is a guy that I told how privileged I was to work with, and we’re going to talk to him.”
