Each day in August, we are taking a closer look at a Montreal Canadiens player and preview their 2019-20 season. Today we discuss what next season will look like for Cale Fleury.
The Montreal Canadiens drafted Cale Fleury in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He had shown talent in his three years with the Kootenay Ice up to that point, but they were a dreadful hockey team. In Fleury’s second season with the Ice, they won just 12 games and followed that up with 14 wins in his draft year.
Fleury was an assistant captain during the 12 win season, and team captain during the 14 win campaign. Getting a letter on your sweater at the age of 17 is a rare feat for a WHL player, so it shows that Fleury played a mature game and was a leader in the dressing room immediately upon entering the league.
Fleury was one of the most trusted defencemen on his team, even as a 17 year old. Playing a big role early in your WHL career is a good sign, but when you do it on the league’s worst team it can lead to some unflattering numbers. During his three full seasons with the Ice, Fleury had 76 points in 201 games, but had a plus-minus of -109. Plus-minus isn’t the best stat, but when it hits triple digits it begins to be noticeable.
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The thing is, it really was not a reflection of Fleury’s ability to play defence. In fact, he is a tremendous defensive player, he just happened to be on a team that could not score goals and was really good at allowing them. Fleury was their best defenceman, so he played the most which led to him being on the ice many times when the puck ended up in his net.
While many teams would look at the statistics and be wary of drafting Fleury, the Canadiens were happy to take a chance on him in the third round. He immediately made the Habs look wise for drafting him by having an excellent 2017-18 season in the WHL.
He started the year with a lousy team in Kootenay once again, but scored ten points in 17 games. He was then traded to the Regina Pats who were gearing up to host the 100th Memorial Cup at the end of the season. In 51 games with the Pats, Fleury showed his untapped offensive potential that was hard to unleash on the worst team in the league. He scored six goals and 41 points, not bad for a guy who was known as a defensive defenceman.
Fleury played with the Laval Rocket last season and though he started the season as a 19 year old, he asserted himself well on the Rocket blue line. Under the tutelage of Joel Bouchard, the Calgary, Alberta native developed into a shutdown defender for Laval, often playing with Xavier Ouellet late in the season against other team’s top lines.
The 6’1″ and over 200 pound defender has never had a problem taking care of business in his own zone. After being drafted, he has shown to be capable of providing offence as well. In his rookie season with the Rocket, he scored 23 points in 60 games which is not eye-popping, but is impressive for a defenceman who didn’t turn 20 until the third month of the season.
2019-20 Role
Fleury proved with the Rocket that he can handle playing a defensive role at the pro level. He is still just 20 years old, so there is no rush to get him into the NHL lineup just yet. With Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Noah Juulsen and Christian Folin ahead of him on the right defence portion of the depth chart, he is certain to start with the Laval Rocket.
Fleury is going to play a huge role with the Rocket. He will definitely play a top four role and will be on a shutdown pairing with Ouellet again in all likelihood. He finished last season with four goals and nine points in his last 16 games, showing he may be an offensive weapon next season as well.
I would expect to see Fleury taking on a top pairing role, playing well over 20 minutes per night. He is going to be the first player called on to kill penalties and if his offensive contribution can be what it was at the end of the season, he will be getting some power play time as well.
With a logjam in front of him, there is no way Fleury can make the Canadiens next season if everyone is healthy. There are just too many veteran options, plus Juulsen who is only 22 and showed enough talent to earn an NHL job last season.
However, Fleury would be one of the first players I would call up when injuries occur. He is still on his entry-level contract so he does not need to pass through waivers and can be called up and sent down whenever the Habs please. He also has shown a good enough defensive game that he could be trusted in spot duty on the Habs third pairing to play 15 minutes or so from time to time.
Fleury won’t play many games with the Canadiens next season. However, he is going to play a huge role for the Laval Rocket and will continue to learn what it takes to be a shutdown defender at the next level. Soon enough, he will be killing penalties and thwarting opponent’s scoring attempts at the NHL level, it just won’t be full-time this season.