Carolina Hurricanes: What does Phil di Giuseppe bring to the team?

After suffering yet another disappointing loss, the Carolina Hurricanes continue to be left searching for scoring. Phil di Giuseppe was once touted as a potential top six forward – but now aged 25, what does he bring to the team?

Phil di Giuseppe was drafted 38th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Scouting as we know it was still in its early developmental stages, and the Canes followed his selection with Brock McGinn at 47th overall. Those two selections saw the Canes overlook the likes of Shayne Gostisbehere (78th overall), Colton Parayko (86th), Frederik Anderson (87th) and Josh Anderson (95th); however at the time, the selection of Di Giuseppe was lauded as an excellent one by the Canes, as scouting reports at the time show.

The Bleacher Report ran this very positive story after the draft:

"“Phil Di Giuseppe is a complete offensive player and is one of the better scoring talents in college hockey…All the teams who passed on Di Giuseppe will be sorry because there are few players in this entire class that have a work ethic comparable to the Wolverines star.”"

Last Word on Sports was even more complimentary about the University of Michigan star:

"Di Giuseppe is an intriguing prospect with a lot of offensive potential. He is more a playmaker than a goal scorer…He has extremely good hockey sense, excellent vision, and the ability to make difficult passes, threading the needle through opponents sticks and skates to give a teammate a great scoring chance. He is very good in board battles and in working the cycle in the offensive zone. He’s also not afraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice and makes key plays in traffic. In the offensive end, Di Giuseppe is a tireless worker who is always forechecking hard, battling for loose pucks, and trying to create scoring chances out of nothing. Di Giuseppe is an above average stickhandler. He has soft hands and good puck protection skills. While he is more a playmaker than scorer, Di Giuseppe does possess a good wrist shot and release."

Some two years after di Giuseppe was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes, Cardiac Cane’s own Wes Herrman wrote this after seeing PDG play in person in 2014:

"“My first impression was that for a player that is known more as a shooter, Di Giuseppe is really a shifty, skilled player…The Toronto native is also a quick skater, which complements his stick-handling skills well."

So the Canes had a potential top six playmaking forward on their hands. What happened to that playmaker? How did he end up as a bottom six forward, subjected to waivers earlier on this season?

Rookie season

Following a consistent NCAA career that saw consecutive seasons of 26, 28 and 24 points with the University of Michigan and some decent scoring with the Charlotte Checkers, posting 30 points in the 2014/15 season, Phil Di Giuseppe had a very promising rookie season with the Carolina Hurricanes.

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In a 2015/16 season in which he also appeared in 25 games with the Checkers, scoring 8 goals and 10 assists, Di Giuseppe saw the ice 41 times for the Carolina Hurricanes, being given middle six minutes and posting an exciting 7 goals and 10 assists. It appeared that the scoring touch he showed in the NCAA and AHL had indeed transferred to the NHL, and that the Canes would indeed have a good draft pick on their hands. With that, PDG appeared ready and primed for a breakout season – but what was to come could not have been anticipated.

What happened next?

There was to be no breakout season. Di Giuseppe played just 36 games the following year, posting just a single goal and six assists alongside a horrible -12 rating; his TOI fell by a full two minutes to 12:18, and his shooting percentage fell from 10.5% in his rookie season to just 1.5% in his sophomore season. It was quite the fall from grace, and no-one could have suspected it was coming after a strong college hockey career and promising rookie campaign. Despite that poor sophomore season, Di Giuseppe was still expected to become a scoring threat for the team.

He rescued his NHL career in 2017/18 by posting 5-8-13 in a career-high 49 games; his TOI fell by a further two minutes to just 10:30, the equivalent of fourth line minutes. That level of production, with such limited ice time, is all you could realistically expect from him. No fourth liner playing ten minutes a game ever made a difference on the ice.

However, PDG appears to have taken a further fall this year; first he was waived, but was kept on, and has now played 16 games this season. Disappointingly, he has posted just one goal and two assists and, while he’s played more than 13:30 in each of his last two games, it’s clear that the offensive potential Di Giuseppe was once expected to unleash has not come forth.

The search for the missing Carolina Hurricanes scoring will not end with Phil Di Giuseppe.

Can PDG ever become a top six forward?

At this stage of his career, it’s very doubtful that Phil di Giuseppe can be anything more than a solid bottom six forward. He doesn’t receive any power play time, nor does he especially deserve to, nor does he help out on the penalty kill. His scoring rate is low and, while he plays a solid game, he contributes very little that others could not, given similar ice time.

The Carolina Hurricanes would be better served by waiving Phil Di Giuseppe for the second time this season, and sending him to Charlotte to allow them to give either Martin Necas or Janne Kuokkanen an extended run in the lineup. They are the future of this Canes team and, sadly, Phil di Giuseppe is no longer the future of this team.

Question for CC readers:

Should the Carolina Hurricanes move on from Phil di Giuseppe, and utilise the roster spot for someone who can chip in more regular offense?