3 Players The Carolina Hurricanes Need More From Down The Stretch

With the Hurricanes in the middle of a war for one of the final playoff spots, is there a few guys on the team that have a little more to give?

There’s no easy way to put it. The stretch run, and the final 20-game playoff push from today forward is going to be absolutely hellish for the Hurricanes.

The team currently sits 2 points below the playoff cut-line, but they have 3 games in hand on the Columbus Blue Jackets, the current holders of the final wild card spot. Unfortunately for Carolina, getting points down the stretch figures to be tough work.

Not only are the teams surrounding them going through hot spells recently (Rangers, Flyers) but 13 of the Canes’ 20 games are against teams that currently occupy a playoff position. The Canes tend to do well against teams above them, but boy, talk about a grueling schedule.

A concern for the team, in recent weeks especially, is the lack of consistent contribution from the depth scorers in the line-up. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, with 13 and 11-game point streaks respectively, have been carrying the load for the Canes’ offense. Beyond the team’s top line, they’ve had no consistent threats.

When you take a look at the roster, there’s a few guys that’ve had sub-par seasons for their normal standards, and a spike in production from those players would go a long way for the Canes in pursuit of their playoff berth.

I’m just going to outline 3 players, but if you’re reading this and thinking, “hey, the team could use more from ______ as well” feel free to discuss with me on social media! Anyway, let’s get at it!

Justin Williams

Criticizing Justin Williams is something that a lot of fans refuse to do because of his history with the team. Fortunately, I’m not one of those people. So far since Williams’ return to the team, it looks like we were sold magic beans about his impact. Honestly, he looks like a shell of himself.

The stats don’t paint the picture much better. If you take away his shootout winning goals (which, sure, were important) the guy has been practically invisible most nights, and is eating up minutes on the PP1 despite doing virtually nothing impactful for the unit.

After putting up 3 points in his first 3 games back in the mix, he’s hit a wall since then, with just two assists in the past 11 games – with both of them coming in the same game. His 5 points have come across 3 games total, so he is pointless in 11 of 14 games.

Despite the sub-par results, Williams is still playing on the top PP unit, and he’s averaging over 2:30 a night on the man advantage. He’s got just 1 point in his last 12 games on the PP1, and that group as a whole has experienced a serious drop-off in production with Williams (and Jaccob Slavin) as a part of it.

After the heart-and-soul effort from Williams to lead the Canes through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs last year, a lot of people assumed Williams would come back and be the difference maker he was last season. Mr. Game 7. Mr. Clutch. This guy:

In Williams’ defense, he’s playing with Jordan Staal and Warren Foegele so it’s not like he’s with premier offensive linemates, and he’s done an OK job as a forechecker, but he’s starting over 54% of his shifts in the attacking zone and isn’t getting favourable results to show for it. He’s also taken away a role and minutes from Ryan Dzingel, who’s being criminally misused at this point.

If the Canes want to get in the playoffs, they don’t need the Williams of last season. They just need the Williams of this season to be …. better. And if he can’t do that, he should be replaced on the top PP unit by a guy like Dzingel or Marty Necas, who have more to offer in that regard.

But. If the Canes CAN get to the playoffs, there’s no questioning the need or experience of #14 at that point. They just need some production from the former Captain.

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.

Nino Niederreiter

If I had to pick just one, this guy right here, Nino Niederreiter, is probably the biggest factor in the Canes’ success moving forward. He was absolutely essential down the stretch for the team last season, and a repeat of that performance would be a massive boost for this team.

It’s been a struggle this year for Nino, who’s been a victim of bad luck and an inconsistent role at times – but he’s actually already started to pick it up recently. He’s got 3 goals in his last 6 games, and he’s looked like a more confident player out there. The Canes need consistency from him.

Remember, when Nino came over from Minnesota last year he scored 14 goals and 30 points in 36 games with Carolina – and then scored the playoff clinching goal against New Jersey. They need that guy to show up again.

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Nino alluded to his struggles earlier in the season:

“You want to be the best player you can be every night. You want to be on the board and you want to score and you want to help the team win. When they’re not going in … it’s frustrating.”

Coach Rod expressed that Nino is effective even when the goals aren’t going in for him, but acknowledged his important role as a finisher:

A lot of the things [he does] away from the puck [don’t] even translate to points. He’s got a little grit to him and he needs to bring that every night. … He’s had a tough year as far as a lot of really good looks that haven’t gone in. It’s tough when you’re a goal-scorer and expected to score and you feel like you need to score to contribute [and] you’re not.”

Niederreiter was a key factor in the Canes’ win against New Jersey on February 14th. He scored a goal and added an assist, and has been in much better form since then, likely acquiring some confidence from his effort in that game – in which he was named the first star.

“When you’re struggling you have to go back to the little things.” Niederreiter said. “I know I’m a shooter and know I have to make sure to get my shot off quick. [Scoring a goal] felt great.”

The hope is that Niederreiter can really find his groove heading down the stretch, where he was critical for Carolina last year.  He’s got just 3 goals on the powerplay all year – so that unit would be a starting point for him to get more involved with.

If Niederreiter can step-up his production in a big way (I’m talking like 7-10 goals in his final 20 games) his impact would be a vital piece of the Hurricanes’ playoff destiny. Regardless, the team needs more from El Nino, and there’s optimism that he can deliver.