Carolina Hurricanes: Three Underrated Hurricanes

3. Trevor van Riemsdyk

Trevor van Riemsdyk is a solid defenseman for the Carolina Hurricanes, but because he doesn’t have the attributes of some of the Hurricanes key defenseman, he is the forgotten one of the bunch. You all remember his huge game tying goal, which led to the eventual game winner in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens last Sunday? He has shown up when the Hurricanes have needed him to.

He has a two of his three goals against the Canadiens, one of which was a game winner back in November. A game in November may have not seemed that important at the time, but the Hurricanes getting those two points is everything, especially fighting for playoff position with the Canadiens.

In 73 games played this season, van Riemsdyk has only totaled 10 penalty minutes. Out of every Hurricane player that has played in 70-plus games, he has the least amount of penalty minutes. He plays a very disciplined game and plays a very sound game on defense. He rarely gets out of position on the defensive end. He doesn’t get into a position to create stick infractions because he is always moving.

The Hurricanes brought up when it comes to playoff experience are Justin Williams (obviously) and Jordan Staal. Williams a three-time Stanley Cup champion and arguably the most clutch player in NHL history in the postseason and Staal who has years of playoff experience in his time with Pittsburgh.

This is where van Riemsdyk’s name isn’t brought up enough. He has playoff experience in his time in Chicago with a Stanley Cup win in 2015, along with current Hurricane teammate Teuvo Teravainen. He may have only played in 4 games that postseason, but he was around the team and played in the postseason again the following 2 seasons. He has experience on what it takes to win the Cup.

Question for CC Readers: Which Hurricanes player do you feel is underappreciated?