It took Jack Drury just one game to score his first career NHL goal. Within two games, he had two goals.
That 2021-22 pace looked promising, but it would not last as it took Drury until his 22nd game of the next season, March 14, to score again and in 38 total games across the 2022-23 season, Drury scored just twice and had a total of eight points.
Heading into this current season, Drury knew he wanted to make a bigger impact.
“I want to make a big jump and that means I need to keep improving my play as much as I can," Drury said before training camp.
Out of camp and preseason, Drury earned the right to start the year with the main club for the first time in his career, but it was yet again a slow start for the 2018 second-round pick.
In his first 15 games, Drury had just one assist.
The young centerman had been around the net, getting close to scoring a few times and even had yet another goal taken away from him due to an offsides call.
But Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour wasn't concerned at all with Drury's lack of production at the time.
"He's played very well and consistently all year," Brind'Amour said at the start of the month. "It's a tough role in a lot of ways because sometimes the minutes aren't there to get into a flow, but I think he's done a real good job and his game's been good all year."
Despite the points not being there, Drury kept playing the same way and that meant sticking to a solid defensive game which even started to blossom into semi-regular shifts on the penalty kill too where he's had some solid success.
And as is typically the case, eventually guys get rewarded for that commitment to playing the right way.
In his last 13 games, Drury has picked up three goals and eight points, all of which set new career highs for himself.
"You just try to go day by day," Drury said. "We've got a great group here. The guys make it easy, coaching staff makes it easy. Get a lot of support from them. Just try to stay confident and try to get better every day."
Drury has centered what has perhaps been Carolina's most consistent line this season despite a rotating cast of wingers from Stefan Noesen and Brendan Lemieux to Michael Bunting and Martin Necas.
"I've been pretty fortunate to play with some good players," Drury said. "They make it easy and I just have to try and capitalize on my chances.
"We just have such a deep team. It's easy whoever you're playing with. Obviously I've gotten to play with Noesen a lot, he's a heck of a player and then whether it's Bunting or Necas, whoever it is, it's pretty easy to play with the guys we've got."
According to Natural Stat Trick, Drury has a 59.96 CF% and 55.66 xGF% and has been on the ice for 13 goals for and just 9 against which all rank in the top half of Hurricanes forwards.
Due to his performance, Drury has even started to get shifts on the power play as the next man up.
Even beyond the on-ice impacts, Drury has also tried to make an impact in the intangible aspects of the game too. For one, he currently leads the team in fights this year.
Both of his fights came as a direct result of him jumping in to stand up for a teammate. He fought Tampa Bay Lightning Nick Paul for Brady Skjei and Buffalo Sabre Connor Clifton for Martin Necas.
While he may not have won either, the fact that he's shown a fearless drive to standup for his team is admirable, although Drury still wishes he had a bit of a better showing in the fights.
"You gotta win them to get a little more credit, but it is what it is."
But the way he pushes himself in all aspects of the game has certainly caught the eye of his coach.
"You can tell Jack's pushing to show that he belongs all the time and that's what you love about him," Brind'Amour said. "He's an NHLer, but he knows that, 'I've got to keep proving myself.' That's how you've got to be. He's been good all year, just nice to see him finally getting rewarded for the effort."
