Brett Pesce

Pesce had another strong campaign in 2020-21, nearly reaching his career high in points in only 55 games and remaining a plus contributor in blocked shots while setting a new career high in average ice time. The 26-year-old blueliner's rock-solid two-way play was a big part of the Hurricanes' successful season, but he could be poised to take his production to another level in 2021-22. With Dougie Hamilton now in New Jersey, there's a big hole on the Hurricanes' top power-play unit, and while Carolina did bring in Tony DeAngelo to help fill it, there's no guarantee the former Ranger even makes it onto the Opening Night roster. Pesce is one of a few defenseman in the lineup who could take advantage of a bigger offensive role if the opportunity presents itself, and he has a stable floor even if he doesn't get that chance.

Pesce is set for another year in a top-four role with the Hurricanes, but that's not likely to translate to much offense for the shutdown defenseman. He had 18 points and a plus-7 rating in 61 outings last year, regressing from his career-best 29 points and plus-35 marks from the year before. The 26-year-old Pesce is also a solid shot blocker -- his 91 last year marked the first time he's missed the century mark in that category in four years. It's defense first for Pesce, though, and fantasy managers shouldn't expect more than 15 points from the veteran rearguard in 2020-21.

Pesce established himself as an integral part of Carolina's deep defense corps last season, blowing away his previous bests in points (29) and rating (plus-35). He doesn't give you much in other categories, however, which is a problem considering his scoring rate isn't up to snuff compared to most useful fantasy blueliners and plus-minus can be extremely fickle from year to year. Just look at Pesce's own career for evidence of that -- his rating in four NHL seasons has been minus-7, plus-23, minus-6 and plus-35. There's a good chance what we saw from the 24-year-old last season was close to his ceiling, so buyer beware.

Pesce registered 19 points through 65 games in 2017-18 -- and he likely would have surpassed the 20 points he posted the previous year -- had a shoulder injury not forced him to miss the last nine games of the regular season. Pesce is under contract long-term after signing a six-year, $24 million contract extension last August, so he is set to remain part of the Canes' top shutdown defensive pairing opposite Jaccob Slavin for the foreseeable future. A healthy Pesce should deliver similar numbers in 2018-19, giving him fantasy value in deeper formats only.

In 2016-17, his sophomore season in the NHL, Pesce improved his offensive totals by four points, hitting the 20-point mark (two goals, 18 assists) while playing a full 82-game slate. Perhaps more impressively, he came to be relied upon more heavily by the coaching staff, recording an average ice time of 21:12 per game, over two minutes more than his rookie season (18:46). From a fantasy perspective, aside from being a relatively modest scorer, Pesce doesn't rank particularly well in any of the peripheral stat categories (hits, shots, PIM). Although, he did rank second on the team last year in blocked shots with 148. Looking ahead, we see Pesce occupying a similar stay-at-home role in Carolina this season.

With 16 points in his first full season with the Hurricanes, the 21-year-old Pesce had a decent campaign offensively, but more importantly, he cemented himself as a top-four defensive option, averaging almost 19 minutes per game. Unfortunately, Pesce suffered a lower-body injury that landed him on IR at the start of February and failed to put much together offensively after he returned, notching just four assists over his last 28 games. The 21-year-old will be back in a similar role with the Canes this upcoming season; however, his fantasy value remains limited to deeper formats for now.