The signing of de Haan brought balance to the Hurricanes' defensive corps, which had a gap on the left side after the departure of Noah Hanifin. With de Haan playing his natural left side, he could potentially form a defensive pair with a right-shooter like Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce or Justin Faulk.
"It's going to make my job a lot easier to give the puck to guys like that," de Haan said. "The experts are saying we have a great blue line, and I don't think they're wrong. I know playing against the Hurricanes for the past few years, it's pretty stingy back there. It's not easy to enter that offensive zone."
In the weeks since he put ink to paper, de Haan said a few of his new teammates have reached out - "did the old, 'Hey, how's it going?' text" - in addition to head coach Rod Brind'Amour.
"I spoke to him on the day I signed for about 30-45 minutes," de Haan said. "We didn't really talk about hockey, to be honest. Just chatting about life, Raleigh, a little bit about the team and the direction the Hurricanes are moving in."
Of the hockey they did talk, de Haan is certain he can fit seamlessly to Brind'Amour's system.
"He wants to move the puck and get the puck out of our end," he said. "It's a pretty simple philosophy. Just get on the offense as fast as you can, move pucks and try to join up in the play, as well. I like to think I'm a good skater, and I want to be the fourth guy on the attack."
De Haan's ultimate goal is simple, and he's confident it's one the team can achieve in the upcoming season.
"I want to help this team win. We want to get back into the playoffs," he said. "There's a lot of good, young talent here. I don't see why this team can't make it into the playoffs."