Ducks acquire Haydn Fleury from Hurricanes

The Anaheim Ducks made another move on the blue line. After sending Ben Hutton off to Toronto, the team acquired defender Haydn Fleury from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defender Jani Hakanpaa. Anaheim will also receive a sixth-round draft pick in 2022 as part of the deal.

Drafted seventh overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft out of the WHL, Haydn Fleury was a decorated defender, having won gold at the Hlinka Cup and bronze at the under-18 World Juniors Championship, where he was named the U18 Best Defenseman and U18 Top Three Player on Team. In 2016, he went on to reach the Memorial Cup Semi-Final with the Red Deer Rebels and was named to the CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team.

His first few seasons with Carolina were split between the NHL and AHL. He was a member of the 2018-19 Calder Trophy winning Charlotte Checkers. During that same season, he was held out of the lineup for a couple of weeks due to a concussion.

Over parts of four seasons, Fleury has played in 167 NHL games, scoring five goals and 19 assists. The 24-year-old is 6-foot-3, 207 pounds and shoots left-handed. He’s in the first year of a two-year, $1.3 million average annual value contract.

The Ducks signed Jani Hakanpaa as a free agent in 2019. The right-handed defender was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the fourth round (104 overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft, but returned to his native Finland to play in the top men’s league (Liiga) by 2015. In 47 games with the Ducks, he’s scored one goal and one assist.

The 29-year-old carries a $750,000 cap hit and will be a free agent this summer.