The Carolina Hurricanes do not have a great track record for drafting high quality defensemen. While this is partially due to the fact that they just don’t hit the mark on guys on the blue line, it is also because they tend to draft forwards at the top end of the draft.

The Hurricanes have drafted forwards with 8 of their 15 first round draft picks since moving to Carolina in 1997.

With this in mind, it appears that 22-year-old Justin Faulk, a 2nd round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, may end up being the best defenseman ever drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Faulk is on pace this season for a 50+ point season. If he achieves this, he will be the first drafted Hurricanes defenseman to reach that mark, and at the age of 22, that is very impressive.

At a young age, Justin Faulk has already been noticed by the league on several occasions, being a part of the Skills Competition in the 2012 All-Star Game as a rookie, and then participating in his first All-Star Game this past January.

Faulk has eclipsed the 100 point mark and is at 101 through 232 career games with the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that has not made the post season with him on the roster, which is a testament to how well this guy has played despite having a bad team around him, for the most part.

Other notable defensemen drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes include Jack Johnson (2005), Niclas Wallin (2000), and Haydn Fleury (2014).

Johnson, now 28, never played a game with the Carolina Hurricanes and was a part of a trade that brought Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason to the team following their Stanley Cup championship in 2006.

Wallin, now retired after 11 NHL seasons and 10 with the Canes, tallied 79 points in 614 career games and was well known for his defensive acumen, penalty killing, and his clutch playoff goals, thus giving him the nickname “the secret weapon”.

Fleury, who has yet to make his NHL debut, was drafted in the summer of 2014 and is just 18-years-old. The reigning 7th overall draft pick has a long career in front of him that will hopefully be very successful.

After reviewing the defensemen draft by Carolina over the past 18 drafts, it appears that Justin Faulk is well on his way to being the best defenseman every drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes.