3 Players The Carolina Hurricanes Need More From Down The Stretch

Ryan Dzingel

It actually pains me to have to put Ryan Dzingel on this list, as I was one of the most vocal supporters of Dzingel’s addition to the team during the summer after watching him develop first-hand in Ottawa over the last few seasons.

I figured that Dzingel’s pace and ability to score goals would make him a seamless fit in Rod Brind’Amour’s system, as the Canes are known for being a fast, skilled team nowadays. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it’s been a rocky ride in his first Canes season for Zinger.

He’d initially found some success with the team. The trio of Dzingel, Erik Haula and Marty Necas was one of the Canes’ X-factors earlier in the season, with the speed and skill of that line being tough to contain for opposing third lines. Dzingel had found decent success as a creator, with 8 goals and 17 assists in his first 41 games with the team.

Since then however, things have gone south…fast. Dzingel hasn’t scored in his last 19 games, and his ice time has dropped significantly – to the point he only played 7:30 against the Rangers last week. Brind’Amour seems reluctant to trust Dzingel defensively, as evidenced by his -3.3 xG rate.

When the Canes initially acquired Dzingel, I figured he’d be a great fit on a line alongside Aho and Teravainen. Dzingel has always been more of a complimentary player as opposed to a play-driver, and I thought his finishing ability would be a great add to that line.

Unfortunately, we’ve never got to see that trio get a legitimate run, and with Andrei Svechnikov terrorizing opponents on that line, it’s unlikely we will.

But despite bottoming out recently, there’s reason to believe Dzingel can find his previous form. iIr’s not going to happen if he’s playing on the fourth line with Jordan Martinook and Brock McGinn – but if Rod can trust Dzingel enough to move him up in the line-up, he’s got a lot to offer as a potential offensive spark.

He was one of the Canes’ best forwards in  the 4-1 loss to Dallas on Tuesday (which isn’t saying a whole lot, but) and played 14:35, which was his 2nd highest ice-time total in the past 16 games.

Hopefully that performance was a confidence booster for Dzingel. The Canes would really benefit offensively if they can get him going, and I personally think he’d be worth a look on the line with newly acquired Vincent Trocheck and Marty Necas, whom he had good chemistry with early on in the season.