Carolina Hurricanes Fantasy Picks Vs. the Detroit Red Wings

The Carolina Hurricanes look to the blue liners to keep their win streak going. Here are the Canes D-men that you should be starting in fantasy tonight.

Ever since coming back home, the canes have been lighting it up. While, yes we did decided to only play come third period against Calgary, the intensity and urgency was there. Our boys got a few days off to get their legs back under them before facing a struggling Detroit Red Wings team tonight.

There was not a lot of point scoring action from the blue liners against the flames on Tuesday, which is why I believe they will light it up tonight. While the scoring did drop off for the D-men pairings, the puck control and fore-checking did not. This physicality is needed, and expected from all of the blue liners, and as long as it stays prevalent, the points will fall in place.

So let’s take a look at the D-men that will pop off on the offensive side this game. It all Starts with possibly the BEST defense pairing in the NHL right now: Alternate captain “Mr. two C’s Thicc” Jaccob Slavin, and Andrei Svechnikov‘s big brother, Dougie Hamilton (or DOOOGIE).

Dougie Hamilton

This guy has to be in your line up, No questions. Do yourself a favor, take 60 seconds and click on his season report to see that in ALL of the last 5 games Hamilton has a point. It gets better. All of his assists have been on power plays, which means more fantasy points. Hamilton is a literal 3 point guarantee, 5 point maybe and a 7 point possibility each night.

If you do not have Hamilton by now, someone in your league does. Trade for him, you will not be disappointed. Yes there are forwards, even defensemen that pop off with a 10 fantasy point night every now and then, but Hamilton brings constancy. A constant 3+ points and a constant smile on your face is what you get with Hamilton on your team.

Jaccob Slavin

There are a few things to note with Jaccob Slavin, the first one being his skills on defense. This is your fundamental D-man that is a necessity on the ice. Slavin will hustle, make the proper move, and deflect the pass or shot 9 out of 10 times, making the job for Petr Mrazek so much easier.

You might ask, how does this precision on defense translate to fantasy points? Transition. Slavin doesn’t just stop playing after the block or forecheck is made. He gets the puck up the ice, finds the smart pass which usually results in a solid offensive possession for the Canes.

Slavin is nitty gritty and is possibly still on the waiver wire, so get him and start him. He is notorious for his smart offensive passing rather than shooting, which often leads to multiple assist games. This is another consistent point getter than should be in your line up for tonight.

Trevor van Riemsdyk

To some this pick seems out of the blue, but let’s take a look at potential rather than the stat sheet for van Riemsdyk.

More from Cardiac Cane

• 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

van Riemsdyk came in to this season still recovering from a procedure and was not active as a starter until four games ago. During this waiting period of van Riemsdyk’s recovery, the Canes utilized Haydn Fleury on the last blue line pairing with Jake Gardiner mostly. While Fleury is fast on the ice, little production came out of him. Having van Riemsdyk back will allow the Canes third line pairing to be much more explosive between van Riemsdyk and Gardiner.

Another reason this is a great fantasy pick is, due to the injury, probably nobody has picked up van Riemsdyk, and he is more than likely a free agent in your league. Pick him up, and watch him go to work against a rather broken Red Wings team. The great thing about Defenders is the ATOI they will rack up for you!

All things said, these three tonight will get you at least 5 fantasy points, but have the upside potential of 10+ fantasy points.

Question for CC readers: Which one Blue Liner should represent the Canes for the All-Star Game?