Radek Faksa already knows one certainty in his life as he navigates his NHL career:
“Both kids were born there, so Dallas will always be a second home for me,” Faksa said. “Not probably but for sure.”
Faksa was set to make his return to Dallas on Sunday night for the first time since the Stars traded him to the Blues over the summer for future considerations. He missed the team’s first trip back to Dallas in December because of an injury he suffered when he was cut by a skate blade just four days before that.
Faksa, 31, spent nine seasons with the Stars, playing 638 games for them before he was traded to St. Louis. He was a first-round draft pick by Dallas in 2012, and only 17 players in franchise history have played more games for the Stars than Faksa did.
“I don’t know what to expect, to be honest,” Faksa said. “Obviously, I’m excited to see all the people. But we have really important games coming up. We’re chasing the wild-card (playoff) spot, and need to focus on that. The other stuff just put on the side and don’t think about it too much.”
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The Blues entered Sunday’s game just one point of the playoffs thanks to a win streak that was extended to four with a 4-1 victory over the Kings on Saturday night. With a win over Dallas, and a loss by the Flames in Carolina on Sunday, the Blues would end the day in playoff position (albeit with a different number of games played than Vancouver and Calgary).
This season, Faksa has three goals and eight assists in 49 games for the Blues while averaging 13:03 of ice time.
By the time Faksa left Dallas, he was the third-longest tenured player, having made his NHL debut on Oct. 17, 2015. The only Stars remaining from that game are captain Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who is currently recovering from hip surgery.
At different points during his time in Dallas, Faksa became a pivotal part of the club’s identity.
He finished seventh in Selke Trophy voting in 2017-18. When the Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, Faksa’s broken wrist was one of many injuries Dallas had to fight through. When Rick Bowness took over as head coach, Faksa (and linemates Blake Comeau and Andrew Cogliano) took on many of the most difficult assignments on the other side, and he was the second-most used forward for Dallas during the shortened 2021 season.
But his usage dropped under Pete DeBoer, and he became a scratch during the playoff run last year despite scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the first round against Vegas. Faksa requested a trade, and the Stars found the Blues as a taker for the final year of Faksa’s contract with a $3.25 million salary-cap hit.
Faksa said it would “be a little weird, a little different” to be back at the American Airlines Center. The Stars were expected to show a tribute video for him during the first period.
“I’m excited to come back,” Faksa said. “I spent basically a third of my life there. Lots of good memories and I’m excited to go back.”
Faksa missed 13 games because of the cut near his groin, but the injury happened so close to the first trip to Dallas that other plans already were in motion. Faksa’s wife, Dominika, and kids, Elliot and Sophie, were heading back to Dallas for the game. With the flights and hotel already booked, Faksa’s family returned to Dallas while he stayed behind in St. Louis.
They flew to Dallas on Saturday again before Sunday’s game.
“Take some walks around Dallas, show Elliot the playground he used to play on, where he went to school,” Faksa said. “He’s excited to go back. He loves to fly on planes and be at the hotel, so he’s excited.”
Faksa already played has against the Stars twice as a Blue, once in preseason and once during a January regular season game, but both games were in St. Louis. As for who he enjoyed playing against, that was easy. It was Benn.
“He’s a tough guy to play against,” Faksa said. “He’s a competitive guy. Jamie was tough to play against, but it’s fun. … When you spend a long time with the same team, you get close. The team was changing a lot, so there’s not many guys that I played the whole time in Dallas with.”
Faksa will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and could be a potential trade-deadline target for teams interested in a depth center, someone who can kill penalties and win faceoffs (56.5% this year), although salary retention would likely have to come from the Blues. The deadline is on Friday.
