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Carolina Hurricanes: Four Players Who’ve Taken A Big Step

By Alex Ohari

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: Haydn Fleury is selected seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: Haydn Fleury is selected seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Haydn Fleury ,Carolina Hurricanes (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Haydn Fleury ,Carolina Hurricanes (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Haydn FLEURY

If you follow me on Twitter (@FutureCanes) you just had to know that this way coming. Haydn FLEURY, who many had wrongfully written off as a bust, has been a noticeable bright spot for the Canes since Dougie Hamilton was lost to injury in January.

You can argue that no player on the Canes’ roster this season has taken bigger advantage of an elevated opportunity than Haydn Fleury, who was frequently rotating as a healthy scratch with Trevor van Riemsdyk before Dougie Hamilton got hurt.

The Hamilton injury gave a more consistent role to Fleury, who’s looked like he’s fit in well dating all the way back to last season. Then, another unfortunate injury struck, when the Canes lost Brett Pesce for the season. Since then, Fleury has been a revelation of sorts.

Before the All-Star break in January (right when Dougie went down) Fleury had played 27 games for the team, and averaged just 11:29 of ice-time per game in that span. He played over 16 minutes in just 1 of those 27 games. Post All-Star break, he’s now averaging 16:56 per game (across 18 games) and has played upward of 16 minutes in 9 of the team’s past 12 games.

https://twitter.com/nhl/status/1185401818047766528?s=21

He managed to score his first NHL goal in October, and has gone on to score 4 goals and add 10 assists in his 45 games this year, with 8 of those points coming in his last 18 games. He’s also riding an impressive 54.4 Corsi percentage, which illustrates how the Canes are driving the flow of the game when Fleury on the ice.

Beyond the stats, he’s become a beast via the eye test. He’s a great skater and his confident as a puck carrier is really on display lately. He routinely pinches and joins the rush, but always does it at smart times that doesn’t leave the defense vulnerable. And for a young, not overly-experienced kid, he’s shown extremely good composure of late.

Overall, Fleury has definitely evolved into a legitimate defender this season who could play in a lot of team’s top-4 in this league. Injuries have propelled him into a top-4 spot in Carolina recently, and not only has he fit in, but he’s been arguably one of the best overall defenders on the team and has really earned his elevated minutes.

He’s looking more and more like the guy the Canes envisioned when they drafted him 7th overall in 2014.

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