No, not Justin *Faulk* of the Carolina Hurricanes. This is Justin Falk. The Senators signed the 30-year-old left-handed defenseman Falk to a one-year, two-way contract:
News Release: #Sens sign defenceman Justin Falk to a one-year, two-way contract: https://t.co/i8KIt7nnxi
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 30, 2018
Communiqué : Les #Sens accordent un contrat au défenseur Justin Falk : https://t.co/wnT5WK0tFW
Although it is a two-way contract and he is eligible to be sent down to Belleville, he will begin his tenure here in the NHL:
Justin Falk, signed to a two-way contract by the Senators Friday, will come directly to Ottawa. He's available to play if Max Lajoie is unable to go due to injury.
— Ken Warren (@Citizenkwarren) November 30, 2018
Of course, I'd be surprised if he ends up staying in Ottawa for very long, as he doesn't need to clear waivers first and I can't see him getting ice time over young defensemen like Christian Jaros, Max Lajoie, and even Christian Wolanin.
Falk had played 8 games with the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, Colorado, and had spent the previous two seasons in the Buffalo Sabres organization. Over his 269 career NHL games, he has also played with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Minnesota Wild. He has never been a regular player in his career, with the most games he has ever played in one season being 52 two years ago on a horrendous Sabres team. Even on that team though he was sent to the AHL for 10 games. He's amassed 33 points throughout his career, and stands at 6'5," 223 lbs, so he is very much a stay-at-home defenseman.
This isn't a signing to get very excited about, because he has essentially been a 7th/8th defenseman throughout his career. This could be a response to the loss of Chris Wideman, although Falk is left-handed, so that would be a strange response. If he plays in Belleville for 95% of the time, then it probably isn't too big of a deal, but if he gets priority over someone like Wolanin, Jaros, or Lajoie, then I don't understand the signing.
Then again, literally as I was writing that sentence, I saw this tweet come up regarding Wolanin:
An estimated timetable for Christian Wolanin’s return to the lineup is set at 8-10 days, according to Tory Mann on @800CJBQ coaches’ pre-game show. The rookie defenceman is currently nursing a shoulder injury.
— Joel Vanderlaan (@Joelvanderlaan) December 1, 2018
So perhaps Falk just is added insurance and won't be used very heavily. 8-10 days isn't very long, and hopefully Wolanin can pick it up where he left off after. As with many depth signings like this, this doesn't change a whole lot, even if he does get into more NHL games than fans would like. Then again, I don't love that the organization saw value in bringing in another Ben Harpur to the lineup.