This piece will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll give some thoughts on the performance of a member of the Carolina Hurricanes this season. This article will focus on Haydn Fleury.

As a former seventh overall pick, there’s been a lot of pressure on Haydn Fleury to turn into a quality NHL defenseman. His development hasn’t gone perfectly but this seemed to be a breakthrough year for the 23-year-old. He looked more comfortable this year and earned a spot with regular ice time. He rarely hit 15 minutes of playing time in games in 2019, however by the end of the year, he was playing as much as 20 minutes a night. Injuries played a role in that but really, Fleury earned his ice time and increased role.

He scored four goals and 14 points in 45 games and was more willing to get the puck on net this year. He was decent in his own zone but was also able to make some solid exit passes and seemed to get more comfortable carrying the puck as the year went on.

I’d assume that next year, he’ll be the fifth or sixth defenseman again, assuming the UFA defensemen (Joel Edmundson/Trevor van Riemsdyk/Sami Vatanen) aren’t re-signed. I think there’s also a solid chance the Hurricanes look to move Jake Gardiner with Brady Skjei now in the mix, meaning Fleury could hopefully take on a larger role next season.

With some concerns about Fleury’s ability to become an effective NHL defenseman present coming into the year, he gave the Hurricanes a reason to believe he can become an important member of the roster long-term. This was a good season from Fleury and hopefully as his role increases, he’ll be able to prove he’s worthy of becoming a legitimate top-four defenseman in Carolina.


IN OTHER NEWS

The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that they've signed brothers David and Jason Cotton. Both played in the NCAA this year, David with Boston College and Jason with Sacred Heart.

Rather than doing a player profile tomorrow, I'll be taking a pause to give some background on what we know about the brothers, then resuming with a profile on Warren Foegele which will be out on Thursday.


For more, follow @BenShelley_20 on Twitter.


OTHER HURRICANES ARTICLES FROM MARCH

Reviewing the season (so far): Joel Edmundson

Reviewing the season (so far): Ryan Dzingel

Reviewing the season (so far): Sebastian Aho

The good and the bad of the Hurricanes’ season (so far)

Mrazek (likely) returning, Geekie makes case to stay with Hurricanes

The Forsberg/Nedeljkovic tandem is off to a rough start

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