About Last Season: Derek Ryan Performance Review and Grade

Derek Ryan: 2016-17 By The Numbers

Age: 30
NHL Seasons: 2
Games Played: 67
Scoring: 11g - 18a - 29pts
Ice Time: 14:53 all situations, 12:19 ES, 2:07 PP, 0:26 PK
5-on-5 Stats: 50.6 CF%, 47.5 GF%, PDO 99.5
Contract Status: Completed one-year, $600,000 contract; pending UFA

About Last Season

Jamie Kellner

Canes Country’s player-by-player review and grades for the 2016-17 season.

• April 13: Sebastian Aho
• April 14: Klas Dahlbeck
• April 15: Patrick Brown
• April 17: Phil Di Giuseppe
• April 18: Justin Faulk
• April 19: Brett Pesce
• April 20: Victor Rask
• April 21: Elias Lindholm
• April 24: Eddie Lack
• April 25: Brock McGinn and Jay McClement
• April 26: Andrej Nestrasil and Joakim Nordstrom
• April 27: Noah Hanifin
• April 28: Ryan Murphy
• May 1: Derek Ryan
• May 2: Jeff Skinner
• May 3: Jaccob Slavin
• May 4: Jordan Staal
• May 5: Lee Stempniak
• May 8: Matt Tennyson
• May 9: Teuvo Teravainen
• May 10: Cam Ward
• May 11: Others receiving votes
• May 12: Coaching staff and front office

Making the Grade

Derek Ryan planned on being a tweener this season, going back and forth between the Carolina Hurricanes and Charlotte Checkers as needed. Then the Canes faltered to start the season, and Ryan was called up in November, never to return to the AHL.

After playing in just six games in the 2015-16 season, Ryan took a big step forward during the 2016-17 campaign. The 30-year-old forward played in 67 games, and his 29 points placed him 10th on the Hurricanes in scoring.

Ryan had an excellent 15.1 shooting percentage, registering 11 goals in only 73 shots. Ryan’s season was enough to gain national attention as he was named a finalist for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded to a player who demonstrates perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The award will be given out at the NHL Awards in June, and while Ryan is unlikely to win, it’s a well-deserved honor for a player whose trip to the NHL took him through some backwaters of the sport.

Ryan continued to be the player the Hurricanes need him to be: a forward that can fit in the top-9 in a variety of roles. Ryan is a multi-faceted player and continued to demonstrate his flexibility over the course of the 2016-17 season, even spending long stretches of time centering Jeff Skinner.

His defensive play is something of a work in progress, but Bill Peters seems to recognize this issue and cover for it, giving Ryan offensive-zone shifts 59% of the time.

Ryan will become an unrestricted free agent in July after playing on a one-year contract this season. Ron Francis will have to determine if Ryan’s play this season is worth a pay raise and a long term contract. At the right price, he’s a valuable piece, one of the glue guys that every successful team needs to have around.

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