Justin Faulk made his debut for the Carolina Hurricanes on October 7th 2011, posting a -2 in a 5-1 loss at the then-RBC Center. He posted just two assists in his first 13 NHL games, going -8 on a Carolina Hurricanes team that opened the season with a 2-9-2 record. He finished his rookie season with a respectable 22 points in 66 games, increasing his ice time to an average of 22:51 by season’s end.
The reason for bringing up such ancient history is not to lower expectations among Carolina Hurricanes fans. Despite being derided by some, and having a career-long reputation as an offensive defenseman who’s not particularly great in his own zone, Faulk’s average TOI has never fallen below 22 minutes a night.