If Faulk is on the block I have no idea why the Canes would have any interest in RNH. Victor Rask is just as good if not better than Nuge. As is Staal. Then they have this young Aho guy that's pretty good too. Really don't see a deal there, unless they have interest in Eberle or Pulju.
Duchene for Faulk makes a lot more sense as he can play wing too and is a much better offensive player than RNH.
I think if we're players in such a deal, it's as an ancillary party. Remember, the Avs acquiring Faulk means they would suddenly have too many right-handed defensemen (EJ, Faulk, Barrie).
As such, I could see that rarest of things- a three-way trade- coming to fruition:
To CAR- Duchene, EDM 2nd '18
To COL- Faulk, RNH, Davidson
To EDM- Barrie, Soderberg
Barrie would be free to do what he does best with a veteran LHD as his partner here in Edmonton and strong defensive players both ahead of and behind him. There's extra motivation for Colorado to do it with Zadorov out, as they could use a young left-handed defenseman to fill in. Davidson would get a fair shot there before the expansion draft and maybe earn himself a longer (or shorter, depending on how you look at it) stay. We then chip in the pick to Carolina in place of Colorado, making the value on their side a little more even.
Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-Soderberg-Eberle
Pouliot-?-?
Caggiula-Letestu-Kassian
Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Barrie
Russell-Benning
Nurse
People might balk at Soderberg, but let's not forget how hard Chia pushed to get him over to NA in the first place- and then how he deployed him. Lucic actually lined up next to the Yeti and Eriksson for a time in Boston, and they had some success together.
Biggest problem is still that third line, but with two 3rds to spare at the deadline I can see that also being fixed in short order. Just have to wait it out and play the many sellers off one another for whichever of Burrows/Sharp/Stafford/Parenteau and Boyle/Ryan/Pyatt/Kelly. As I mentioned yesterday, there is also the possibility of a longer-term addition from an expansion-strapped team. If we can get someone like Filppula with retention for two years, that'd help more than a rental.