Carolina Hurricanes: Analyzing the Free Agent Signing of Ryan Dzingel

On July 12, 2019, the Carolina Hurricanes signed Ryan Dzingel to a two-year, $6.75M contract. Let’s take a look at how he has fit in with the team so far, and what we can expect from him in the 2nd half of the season.

Going into the offseason, Ryan Dzingel was one of the top free agents on the market. After he remained unsigned for what many seemed like was too long, he would eventually sign with the Carolina Hurricanes. After a lackluster stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets, many were hopeful that he would return to the production that he had with the Ottawa Senators.

Coming into the season, a lot of people (including myself) were really excited to have him on a team that was expected to be pretty good. With Ottawa, he posted 22 goals and 22 assists in the 44 games he played for them last year. Once Columbus picked him up near the trade deadline, he would only tally 12 points in 21 games. With his speed, he seemed like a perfect fit for the Hurricanes.

So far this year, we’ve seen a mixed bag of results from him. He currently has 8 goals and 18 assists, which is fairly decent for the role he’s playing for the Hurricanes. We’ve also seen some physical aspects of his game pop out from time to time, more notably when he fought Vladislav Namestnikov on November 9th.

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I think it’s fair to say that he’s fit in pretty well with the team. For most of the season, he’s played on the 3rd line with Erik Haula and Martin Necas. That 3rd line combination has been really solid, with all three forwards contributing in their own way. Above all, I really feel Dzingel has helped Necas in his development, as both use speed to their advantage.

One of the main reasons that Dzingel seemed like such a good pickup for Carolina was his ability to produce on the power-play, something the Hurricanes heavily struggled with last year. He currently plays on the 2nd unit, and with the eight goals he has scored so far, four of those have come on the power-play.

So what can we expect from Ryan Dzingel in the 2nd half? Well, he’s a great depth player who can fit in on just about any line, but it’s safe to assume he’ll stay on the 3rd line. He’ll continue to get power-play minutes and hopefully capitalize on his chances. In terms of point production, I feel he’ll get around the 15 goal mark by the end of the year, rounding out to around 40-45 points for the season.

Overall, Ryan Dzingel has been a good pickup for the Carolina Hurricanes. While he hasn’t come close to the offensive production that he had with the Senators, he’s played his role fairly well. I’m sure we all agree that we’d like to see more out of a guy like him, and with his speed and ability to move the puck, he can certainly step it up.

Question for CC Readers: What do you think? Do you believe Ryan Dzingel was a good pickup, or should Carolina have gone in a different direction?