There are lots of reasons to like Justin Faulk's new contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. In a nutshell, it's long and relatively inexpensive, he's 22 and already pretty good. Faulk signed a six-year deal worth $29 million on Monday. That works out to pay him $4.83 million against the salary cap through the 2019-20 season and effectively buys two years of him as an unrestricted free agent; he's tracking toward reaching seven years of NHL service in the summer of 2018, meaning he'd have hit the market at 26 years old. By that point, it's reasonable to surmise that Faulk will be worth much more than a $4.83 million cap hit; the cap will Taijuan Walker Jersey rise, as will the price for defensemen, and there's every reason to think that Faulk will improve, as well. Example A: His 22nd birthday was last week. Justin has proven to be among the best young defensemen in the league as confirmed by his selection to the U.S. Olympic team, general manager Jim Rutherford said in a released statement. He has been and will continue to be the anchor of the Hurricanes defense for years to come. Given that Faulk's entry-level deal expires after this season, and that his new one currently among defensemen for next season, he might be worth it already. He's got that Olympic nod on his resume, and his effectivene s in the minutes he plays is certainly on par with players who have signed comparable deals. More hockey: | | Here is a usage chart, , of players comparable to Faulk: Defensemen in their early/mid-20s who this season started contracts of at least four years and a $4.166 cap hit. The darker the circle, the more of his team's shot attempts a player is on the ice for. The larger the bubble, the more minutes he plays. The higher the bubble, the harder the competition he faces. The farther left, the more defensive zone starts he sees. Based on that, you could argue that Faulk is already more valuable than all of them but Ryan McDonagh. There's no shame in that; McDonagh's contract ($4.7 million against the cap) is going to wind up as one of the most team-friendly in the league. Where Faulk particularly falls off, relative to McDonagh, ; Faulk has three goals and 21 a sists, putting him at 24 total and in a tie for 60th place among defensemen. McDonagh is at 12 and 27, putting him at 39 points and a tie for 16th place. McDonagh scores 1.31 points per 60 minutes (27th among defensemen). Faulk is at 0.95 (67th). That's a meaningful difference. It's also fueled by Faulk's amazingly low 2.5 percent shooting percentage. That's low for any defenseman. Given that his first two seasons were 7.9 and 6.6 percent, it's particularly low for Faulk, and it's likely to rise moving forward. Even if it was at 5 percent, Faulk's goal total would double. So locking up a guy who, at 22, could easily already score 40 points (10G, 30A) and positively affect puck po se sion in 23:41 a game against top competition, on the power play, on the penalty kill, through the year he turns 28, as prices on players like him continue to rise? Not bad for the Hurricanes. "He's a real good defender. He's a gritty guy," Olympic coach Dan Bylsma said in October when Faulk and the Canes visited Pittsburgh. "I've been a fan of watching him long before me becoming the U.S. coach. I've watched quite a bit of his international games over the last couple years, on tape and in person. On the big ice, with his skating ability and his shot, he's a big factor." Alec Bohm Jersey