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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Calvin de Haan to a professional tryout.
The #Canes have signed defenseman Calvin de Haan to a professional tryout (PTO).
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) September 9, 2022
A veteran of 520 NHL games, the 31-year-old played 74 of them with Carolina during the 2018-19 season.
It’s definitely a little bit surprising to see de Haan not able to find a contract this summer and having to resort to the PTO route. He’s only just entered his 30s and did average the fourth-most ice time per game amongst Blackhawks' defenders last season. He’s also the second notable player to sign a PTO with Carolina this summer, with the other being Derek Stepan.
It’ll also be interesting to see if de Haan can find a spot on the roster. The Hurricanes already have six defenders who should be NHL regulars and younger defensemen like Jalen Chatfield and Joey Keane (unsigned) who could be used as spares, plus then it’s still somewhat uncertain as to what may happen with Jake Gardiner. That said, adding de Haan as an extra piece at a low cap hit would make sense depth-wise and creates competition at the bottom of the defense group, so we’ll see how this plays out.