Colliton looking forward to de Haan's presence on Blackhawks' defense

Calvin de Haan is writhing in pain.

His left shoulder has just slammed into the sideboards after colliding with the Penguins' Jake Guentzel during Carolina's 3-1 loss in Pittsburgh on March 31.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Hurricanes' defenseman puts pressure on the shoulder in an attempt to get up … and collapses to the ice. A few seconds later, de Haan finally manages to get to his feet and skates to the bench.

His shoulder is separated.

And the Stanley Cup playoffs are just more than a week away.

"It's not good," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour tells reporters afterward.

At that point, it appeared the Hurricanes were headed to the postseason without one of their most important players. But de Haan - who said he "basically came out of the womb with a mini-stick" in his hand - understood that you only get so many chances to win a Stanley Cup.

So he made a triumphant return April 18 and helped Carolina even its best-of-seven series with Washington at 2-2. The Hurricanes went on to eliminate the defending-champion Capitals in seven games, then swept the Islanders en route to a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.

"Played with pretty much half a straitjacket on to keep it in," de Haan said. "But it was a good experience. I would do it again."

Five days after the Hurricanes were swept by Boston, de Haan underwent shoulder surgery.

A grueling rehab schedule was on the horizon, but the six-year veteran was nonetheless excited to rejoin his teammates for the 2019-20 campaign.

But that reunion never occurred because five weeks later de Haan received the stunning news that he'd been traded to the Blackhawks.

"I've been in this business for a long time," said Hurricanes GM Don Waddell, "and I've got to tell you … that was one of the tougher phone calls I've had (to make)."

For the Hawks, though, it was an easy decision to acquire a hard-nosed, gutty player who should shore up their blue line as well as improve their dreadful, last-in-the-league penalty kill.

De Haan was drafted 12th overall by the Islanders in 2009 and broke into the league with a 3-goal, 13-assist, 104-block campaign in 2013-14. Other than an injury-plagued 2017-18 season, these are the type of numbers de Haan has always posted and it's what the Hawks can expect this season.

"I was in the Islanders organization when he was coming up and he had the reputation that he was going to be a top-pair, power-play offensive defenseman," said Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton. "So he has that ability.

"But what he's learned is that you need to defend, you need to make clean plays, get yourself out of trouble … and then you'll have your opportunity to do something special with the puck when the odds are in your favor. He's evolved his game. So he's going to really help us."

It's still unclear if de Haan, whose contract carries a $4.55 million cap hit through 2021-22, will be ready for the season opener against Philadelphia in Prague on Friday.

But whenever he does crack the lineup, his presence on the penalty kill ought to drastically improve the Hawks' 72.7 percent kill rate from last season.

Average goaltending is one reason for that awful number, but Colliton's squad also didn't block nearly enough shots. Only Brent Seabrook (2.31 per game), Duncan Keith (1.76) and Connor Murphy (1.75) were consistently deflecting pucks or stepping in front of them.

De Haan, who has averaged 2.1 blocks over his career, admits it's no fun getting hit and there have been plenty of times when he couldn't believe he wasn't injured.

But it's a part of the game he takes great pride in.

"Your teammates respect it and I respect players on other teams and guys on my team who do it," he said. "Sometimes it's a good way to pick up guys on the bench if a game's boring or if it's sloppy.

"Just one block can change the course of a game."

Soon enough we'll see if de Haan can help change the course of his new franchise.

• Twitter: @johndietzdh

Calvin de Haan’s career statistics

Season, Team GP G A Pts. Blks

2013-14, NYI 51 3 13 16 104

2014-15, NYI 65 1 11 12 130

2015-16, NYI 72 2 16 16 198

2016-17, NYI 82 5 20 25 190

2017-18, NYI 33 1 11 12 65

2018-19, Car. 74 1 13 14 106

Totals 378 13 82 95 793

Note: Played 1 game in 2011-12.

SOURCE: NHL