{"id":7281,"date":"2014-06-27T22:55:45","date_gmt":"2014-06-28T02:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/?p=7281"},"modified":"2014-07-04T00:08:15","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T04:08:15","slug":"hurricanes-select-fleury-a-defenseman-in-nhl-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/?p=7281","title":{"rendered":"Hurricanes select Fleury, a defenseman, in NHL first round"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Haydn<\/a>
Haydn Fleury.<\/figcaption><\/figure>Though the 2014 NHL Draft wasn\u2019t as stacked as others with top-end defensive talent, there were two blue-liners that caught scouts\u2019 attention, and one was taken first overall.<\/p>\n

The other was Haydn Fleury, selected seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t have many words to say,\u201d Fleury said in his first media scrum as a member of the Canes. \u201cIt\u2019s an unreal experience, and I\u2019m very excited to be in Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the team’s first selection of a defenseman in the first round since Ryan Murphy was picked 12th overall in 2011, the Canes are happy to have Fleury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big, mobile defenseman who has a lot of upside to his game because of the way he skates,\u201d said Canes Executive Vice President and General Manager Ron Francis. \u201cHe can skate the puck out of traffic and move it out of trouble. In the U-18 tournament in Finland, he was quarterbacking the power play. There are a lot of parts of his game that we like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did have our eye on him,\u201d said Tony MacDonald, the Canes head amateur scout. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy with that kind of size, and he skates extremely well. He\u2019s got a lot of poise with the puck, and he moves the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2013-14 season was Fleury\u2019s second full season with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. As an alternate captain, he led his team in defensive scoring with 46 points (8g, 38a) in 70 games. That output was more than double the 19 points (4g, 15a) he recorded in 66 games as a WHL rookie, still be for third among team defensemen.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the 6-foot-3, 203-pound defenseman finished at a team-high plus-15 on a Red Deer squad that had a minus-10 goal differential and failed to qualify for the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrent [Sutter] has treated me like a pro,\u201d Fleury said. \u201cHe\u2019s had high expectations for me and has given me a great opportunity in Red Deer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that we like about this guy is that his upside is significant,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cHis offensive game is still evolving. He\u2019s still developing. He\u2019s still getting better in that regard, and we expect that he\u2019ll continue to get better. He\u2019s a very coachable kid and eager to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Typically, the development process for a defenseman can be more extended than others. But Fleury, 17, will attend Prospects Development Camp in a month before going to Traverse City for the annual rookie prospects tournament and then training camp. A decision on his status for the 2014-15 season \u2013 whether he remains with the big club or returns to Red Deer \u2013 will be made then.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always want to be careful with young defensemen. They do take a little longer [to develop]. A lot of times you don\u2019t know what you have until they are about 22 or 23, quite frankly,\u201d Francis said. \u201cUltimately, you want to do what\u2019s best for Haydn and our franchise in the long-term, not the short term.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a steeper learning curve for the defensemen. At the NHL level, it\u2019s tough for these guys to come in and make an impact right away. It takes them a little longer,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenging position to play, and there are a lot of things to learn. But when a player has the signs and the tools \u2026 you can do a lot with that kind of player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fleury is that kind of player with a varied and skilled toolbox. He compares his game to that of Jay Bouwmeester.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a solid, two-way defenseman who plays in all situations of the game,\u201d Fleury said. \u201cHe plays big minutes, generates offense and is very strong defensively, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Fleury\u2019s self-described game?<\/p>\n

\u201cI consider myself a two-way defenseman who can play in all situations of the game,\u201d he said. \u201cI can play on the power play, I can play on the penalty kill and play against other teams\u2019 top lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

After over a year\u2019s worth of scouting work and long days and weeks of compiling lists, the Canes had Fleury, who projects as a rock-solid two-way NHL defenseman, pegged as their guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about trying to get a little bit bigger. He\u2019s 6-foot-3 and 200-plus pounds, but he skates extremely well. It\u2019s not like he\u2019s a big, slow guy,\u201d Francis said. \u201cThis guy is very mobile, and in today\u2019s game, you need D that can skate it and move it out of trouble, and this kid can do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, you\u2019re just trying to get a comfort level that you think he\u2019s a good kid, which he did. And we felt that he was a good player,\u201d Francis said of the process. \u201cWe\u2019re glad to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Hurricanes news release, Michael Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though the 2014 NHL Draft wasn\u2019t as stacked as others with top-end defensive talent, there were two blue-liners that caught scouts\u2019 attention, and one was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7283,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7281\/revisions\/7283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}