Carolina Hurricanes Prospects: Phil Di Giuseppe Flying Under the Radar Entering His 2nd Pro Season
By Brett Finger
Between now and the start of the preseason, Cardiac Cane will preview every Carolina Hurricanes prospect as they enter the 2015-2016 season and what we expect from them in the coming year.
Player: Phil Di Giuseppe
Position: Left Wing
Date of Birth: October 9, 1993 (21)
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Height/Weight: 6’1″/201 lbs.
2015-2016 Team: Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) and Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Scouting Report:
"Di Giuseppe attended his first training camp with the Hurricanes before being assigned to AHL affiliate Charlotte to start his first pro season in 2014-15. Skating for the Checkers as a 21-year-old, he was seeing steady ice time to start the season and among the team scoring leaders on a team that was struggling to score goals. Long-term Di Giuseppe projects as a power forward with some offensive elements to his game at the NHL level. He will likely take some time developing and refining all elements of his game at the minor level to one day reach that potential. (HOCKEY’S FUTURE)"
Phil Di Giuseppe is one of the most intriguing players in the Hurricanes system. The 2012 2nd round draft pick has not been talked about much at all since he turned pro, but he still has the potential to be an impact NHLer at some point.
Di Giuseppe finished his college career at Michigan after 2013-2014 season and inked a three-year entry level with the Canes to officially become a professional hockey player.
At 6’1″, 200+ pounds, Di Giuseppe has the size to be an affective player up front, and his skill and speed also are in line with what you want to see in a young player.
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The Toronto, Ontario native has great hands and can make good passes both in transition and in powerplay situations where his team is set up in the offensive zone, but he has been best known for his shot throughout his young hockey career.
His shot has a lot of velocity behind it, but one area that needs improvement is his placement and accuracy. If he can send those hard shots where he wants them to go, it will only improve his likelihood at being an impact player in the NHL.
Last season was Di Giuseppe’s first with the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL. He tallied 11 goals and 30 total points in 70 games with an offensive deprived Charlotte team.
Many people have described Di Giuseppe’s game in the pro’s as a power forward-type, and he has decent size and skill to make it happen, but he isn’t one to win a whole lot of board battles, which is an important part of playing a good power forward game at the higher levels. This certainly isn’t due to effort, but he hasn’t yet discovered how to use his big body in the best way possible. That will need to be something he improves on this season.
Brock McGinn and Sergey Tolchincky are usually the players that people talk about most when discussing Canes forward prospects, but Phil Di Giuseppe is probably a safer bet than Toclchinsky and a player with a higher ceiling than McGinn, so he should be talked about more in terms of Carolina’s top prospects.
Spending 3 seasons with the University of Michigan while playing against big, older players certainly made his transition to the AHL much easier, and he performed well while getting decent minutes both at even strength on the powerplay, and while he was not a very common fixture on the penalty kill, he can hold his own in his defensive zone. That being said, he isn’t a player that excels in his own end.
Di Giuseppe ranked tied for 4th on the Checkers in points last season and tallied 3 more points than fellow rookie Brock McGinn. The young forward also led the Checkers in shots on goal with 174.
The Carolina Hurricanes will likely take a long look at Phil Di Giuseppe this September at training camp, and while he certainly is a dark horse to make the team outright, he is a guy that may surprise some people and maybe see some NHL time this season.
There is still a lot for Di Giuseppe to work on with his game, but he seems ready to impress some folks both at training camp in September and throughout the 2015-2016 season in Charlotte and potentially in Raleigh as well.
For more prospect season previews, go HERE for the entire playlist.