Ten seasons into his professional hockey career, Phil Di Giuseppe is finally getting a chance to be a top-six forward in the NHL.
When Di Giuseppe was drafted 38th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes, it was for his offensive skill as a playmaking power forward. He was coming off his freshman season at the University of Michigan where he was first in NCAA scoring among first-time draft-eligible players and he was lauded for his soft hands and offensive instincts.
Once Di Giuseppe reached professional hockey, however, he came to a realization; he was going to have to become a role player if he wanted to make the NHL.
“I used to be a pure skill guy,” said Di Giuseppe when he first joined the Vancouver Canucks. “Then I found a defensive role in Carolina and then New York I was more looked on as a defensive player.”
While Di Giuseppe developed the defensive side of his game and chipped in a few points here and there, it was never enough to stick in the NHL long-term. Instead, he found himself bouncing between the NHL and AHL season after season in the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers organizations.
When he signed with the Canucks, Di Giuseppe stopped bouncing between the two leagues. Unfortunately, it was because he spent his entire first season in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks.
"It was one of those make-or-break moments."
While in Abbotsford, however, Di Giuseppe found his “pure skill” game again and put up the best numbers of his AHL career in a top-six role. He had 36 points in 42 games, then 32 points in 37 games last season while also spending 30 games in the NHL in Vancouver.
When in the NHL, he got a major opportunity under new head coach Rick Tocchet. A top-six role.
Looking for someone to get in on the forecheck and do the dirty work along the boards for J.T. Miller’s line with Brock Boeser, Tocchet turned to Di Giuseppe. Now, heading into the 2023-24 season, Di Giuseppe is still on a line with Miller and Boeser despite plenty of competition on the wings for the Canucks.
“When you go through bouncing between the minors and the NHL, you never know when that opportunity is going to come,” said Di Giuseppe to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. “I was playing good hockey, but for a year and a half there, I didn't get a chance to get called up. So when I did last season, it was one of those make-or-break moments.”
Now Di Giuseppe is getting the chance to start the season in a top-six role. That raises the question: can Di Giuseppe actually be a top-six forward in the NHL?
"I think my ceiling's a lot higher than what I've proved so far."
Di Giuseppe hasn’t exactly had a lot of offensive success in his NHL stints. His career high in points is 17 with the Hurricanes way back in the 2015-16 season.
But he also hasn’t been given much offensive opportunity. Di Giuseppe has spent all his time in the NHL on third and fourth lines with bottom-six linemates. The question is whether he can produce if given that opportunity.
“Sometimes you’re not put in a position to score and then sometimes you are and it doesn’t happen, so you’ve got to find any way you can to get on a roster,” said Di Giuseppe back in 2021. “I was a pure skill guy, then I got the defensive end, so I look to mesh both and I think my ceiling’s a lot higher than what I’ve proved so far.”
This season, at the hockey-old age of 29, Di Giuseppe may finally get the opportunity to prove how high his ceiling can actually be. Tocchet seems to truly believe in Di Giuseppe and the spot on the wing with Miller and Boeser is his to lose — a $775,000 per year winger among multi-millionaires.
“He’s a north-south, goes to the net, low-maintenance guy, big guy — how can you not love a guy like that?” said Tocchet. “He’s 29 years old, but I’ve seen a lot of guys start to play well at 29.”
While studies show that NHL players typically peak at or around 25 years old, there are always outliers. The Canucks hope Di Giuseppe might be one of them.
Di Giuseppe made Miller and Boeser better
There’s good reason for that hope. Di Giuseppe was legitimately excellent with Miller and Boeser last season, complementing the two skilled players with his work on the cycle and defensive diligence. When Di Giuseppe, Miller, and Boeser were together on the ice at 5-on-5, shot attempts were 222-to-196 for the Canucks — a 53.1% corsi percentage — despite tough usage against top forward lines.
When Miller and Boeser were on the ice without Di Giuseppe last season, shot attempts were 160-146 for their opponents — a corsi percentage of 47.7% — and they were out-scored 14-to-6.
The difference that Di Giuseppe made — along with the bump across the board from the coaching change — is stark. That’s clear when looking at the heat map of shots for and against when Miller and Boeser were on the ice without Di Giuseppe at 5-on-5. Both offensively and defensively, it was an utter disaster.
With Di Giuseppe, that line still gave up some chances against tough competition, but far fewer than without him. Essentially, they held their own defensively but, more importantly, became far more effective offensively.
That’s what’s intriguing about Di Giuseppe — even if he’s not scoring, he helps make his linemates more productive with his complementary game. Without Di Giuseppe, Boeser and Miller averaged 2.18 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. With him, they averaged 3.07 points per 60 minutes.
Let’s put it another way. Miller averaged 1.68 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 last season. When he was on the ice with Di Giuseppe, Miller averaged 2.73 points per 60 minutes.
"You never know when you're going to have a chance again."
To be clear, just because Di Giuseppe worked on a line with Miller and Boeser for 20+ games last season doesn’t mean he’ll work well with them again, but there are very good reasons to at least try him on that line to start the season.
What makes Di Giuseppe successful is the same type of thing that made Alex Burrows successful with Daniel and Henrik Sedin, albeit to a lesser degree: he gets in on the forecheck, wins puck battles, puts the puck in the hands of his skilled linemates, and gets to the net. He has adapted his game over time to play to his strengths, which are not necessarily the strengths he used to believe he had.
“I used to think I was a shooter but I wasn’t scoring many goals,” said Di Giuseppe after a three-point performance in Saturday’s preseason game. Now, he’s focused on getting to the net to provide screens and tips.
If he can keep doing that with Miller and Boeser, Di Giuseppe might finally spend a full season in the NHL.
“I thought we looked good last year,” said Di Giuseppe. “You never know when you’re going to have a chance again…I’m just trying to capitalize on any moments I get, wherever I am.”
