MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Since he left his native Czechia and then the Ontario Hockey League in 2013-14, all Radek Faksa knew was Texas.
The 30-year-old was the 12th pick in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Dallas Stars and has been a Stars lifer, playing the past nine seasons and achieving plenty of success with a franchise that’s had some really good Stanley Cup playoff runs.
So why would a player want to leave that? Under normal circumstances, one wouldn’t leave a winning organization. And if they were somehow moved out, it would come as a surprise.
Well according to Faksa, who the Stars traded to the Blues on July 2 for future considerations, the deal wasn’t a shock. In fact, he was expecting it.
“I was talking to (Stars general manager) Jim Nill after the season and I kind of told him I’m not happy with my ice time and stuff like that,” Faksa said Friday at training camp. “I’m looking forward to a new challenge. I thought it would be good for my future. I’m happy in St. Louis. I kind of knew, I just didn’t know where it would be. I wasn’t surprised at all.”
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When Faksa, who has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 74 regular-season games and one goal — a big one — on eight postseason games last season, broke into the NHL in 2015-16, he was averaging 12:21 ice time as a 21-year-old. By 2016-17 through 2022-23, Faksa was playing anywhere from 15-18 minutes per game, peaking at 17:26 per game in 2020-21.
But the ice time had dipped to 12:31 last season, falling to a career-low 11:55 last season. Something had to give and the Stars moved Faksa and the remaining year left on a contract that pays him $3.25 million average annual value.
St. Louis was interested.
“I think the chemistry of the team and I can feel the trust from the team that they wanted me here and it’s really important for me,” Faksa said. “I talked to everyone. Camp just started so obviously I will talk to them even more. So far, I’m really happy here. The city is amazing, the group of guys is really good, lots of talent here. I can’t complain. I’m happy here so far. I can’t wait for the regular season to start.”
In one sense, it was easy to leave Dallas to pursue more opportunity. On the other hand, it’s hard to leave behind a team touted again as a Stanley…