The Carolina Hurricanes have added to their depth with an experienced NHL veteran, signing forward Ryan Dzingel to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2022-23 season, the team announced. The deal will pay Dzingel $750K at the NHL level and $150K in the minors, guaranteeing $200K. This will mark the veteran’s second stint with the Hurricanes, spending parts of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons in Carolina. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had this to say on the signing:
“We are obviously familiar with Ryan from his previous time in Carolina. He is a skilled player who can provide an offensive boost to our forward group, and we are excited to have him back in the organization.”
When Dzingel is on, he can absolutely provide an offensive boost, one that is not just depth but true secondary scoring, having tallied as many as 26 goals in a season as a member of the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Since his trade out of Ottawa however, Dzingel has been unable to replicate his success, failing to score more than eight goals in a season since. The forward was eventually traded back to Ottawa in February of 2021 and signed with the Arizona Coyotes last summer. Looking to add to their scoring depth, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Dzingel this season, but lost him on waivers to the San Jose Sharks, where Dzingel would finish this season.
With the signing, Carolina figures to have a low-risk, but certainly high-reward option that they can swing between the NHL and AHL and slot up and down the lineup when he does play. The Hurricanes had recently been rumored to be looking at additional pieces and had even been connected to Nino Niederreiter, who had hit the market after parts of four seasons with the Hurricanes. Though Dzingel does not provide the same caliber of offensive Niederreiter does, if he can return to the player he was for Ottawa from 2016 to 2019, he could pose a similar threat. Either way, Dzingel’s two-way contract is far more cost-controlled than the two-year, $4MM AAV contract Niederreiter signed with the Nashville Predators.