Very early in the morning, the Carolina Hurricanes have given us the bombshell of signing Ryan Dzingel. The move bolsters up the offense and raises new problems in where to slot everyone.
Ryan Dzingel has signed a two-year contract, one-way contract, the first year at $3.25M and the second year at $3.5M. Dzingel scored a combined 26 goals for both the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2018-19 regular season. In nine playoff games for the Blue Jackets, he scored one goal and maintained a +3 plus-minus.
The contract was well-thought out by the Hurricanes front office. The low AAV is beneficial to the team to sign the remaining restricted free-agents like Haydn Fleury, Brock McGinn, and others. The contract length is only two years, which is perfect, it allows Don Waddell to pick and choose who goes and stays, when he has to pay Andrei Svechnikov big time as he becomes a restricted free agent.
Whether Dzingel slots in at the top six or the top nine, he’ll contribute an offensive punch for the Hurricanes, who lacked depth on scoring, especially in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Hurricanes projected lineups currently, for the most part, depends on if Justin Williams will hang up the gloves or continue playing.
🌪🌪🌪@Ryandzingel is the newest member of the @NHLCanes! #NHLFreeAgency pic.twitter.com/okViS19lai
— NHL (@NHL) July 12, 2019
If Williams plays, a roster player could potentially become a healthy scratch or have to play with the Charlotte Checkers. Saku Maenalanen is still waivers exempt and most likely destined to play for the Charlotte next season. That said, he’ll be a player the Hurricanes pull back and forth, as players become injured or are out of the lineup for other reasons.
Warren Foegele or Brock McGinn would probably be the odd man out, to be the healthy scratch if the Captain returns. If not, then no one goes except Maenalanen. James Reimer would most likely need to be moved to make the ideal cap space for the three time Stanley Cup champ. October’s starting lineup could look alot like this come opening night:
Ryan Dzingel has been known for being well on the powerplay, having lethal shot power. Dzingel has been known for being defensively weak, kind of like a Jeff Skinner build. He can score well, but he can’t defend well. This makes the signing a bit interesting considering Skinner was moved for those same reasons.
He made some statements at the press conference about improvement, so things may be looking up, as Coach Rod Brind’Amour can shape up his defensive and team play, he can grasp while utilizing his individual skill.
#Canes sign Ryan Dzingel to a 2-year, $6.75M deal. He had career highs in goals (26), assists (30), points (56), power-play goals (5) and game-winning goals (5) is 78 games with the #Sens & #BlueJackets last season. pic.twitter.com/3pxBHTckfA
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) July 12, 2019
Whether this becomes a take that ages well in months from now or it’s an accurate prediction, it has to be said now with the current circumstances, that the Carolina Hurricanes are a cup contender. They have scoring depth, their defense is still stacked up, and their goaltending will be at least league average, if not even better. Making the playoffs will only be something expected, a top three spot in the Metropolitan Division will be expected.
Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: If you had to predict now, how many points will Ryan Dzingel put up by the end of the regular season?