McDermott, who has missed two games after copping a concussion in the nets, replaces Sam Hain at Blundstone Arena on Monday afternoon.
Hobart skipper Nathan Ellis won the bat flip and opted to bowl first.
The match is crucial for both sides' finals chances in a shortened 10-games-per-team competition.
The Hurricanes are last on the ladder with one win from four matches, while the Thunder are sixth with a solitary victory from five games.
The Thunder are unchanged from Thursday's rain-hit no-result against the Sydney Sixers.
Rain also proved a hindrance for Hobart in their last-start loss to the Melbourne Stars, who chased a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern revised target on the back of some clean hitting from Glenn Maxwell.
HURRICANES: Caleb Jewell, Matthew Wade, Mac Wright, Ben McDermott, Corey Anderson, Tim David, Nikhil Chaudhary, Chris Jordan, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis (capt), Riley Meredith.
THUNDER: Alex Hales, Cameron Bancroft, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Oliver Davies, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green (capt), Gurinder Sandhu, Liam Hatcher, Tanveer Sangha.
6°C