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Michael Del Zotto

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This thread has been quiet for 2 weeks. A good sign.
Except for that brain fart against the Sabres, he has been playing relatively well.
 
He's cooled off right now. There was a nice long stretch where he was pretty fantastic defensively and offensively
 
Drewbackatu said:
Agree. He'll continue to improve but it will be baby steps rather than a giant leap! Worth keeping though.
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he's already improved so much, anyone who has't seen it is blind...

rookie yr he was -25 +/-, took a step back sophmore year, but since has brought an excellent defensive game with some offense.. his biggest thing right now is consistency, which is the make or break from a fringe good player to an amazing player..

my problem is we take him for granted.. theres not to many players in this league that are better then him for his age..
 
The good part about Del Zotto is his skating and passing game. The bad part is his inconsistency, he's the epitome of a double edged sword. He can make mistakes that would make a player in juniors feel embarrassed.

When he's calm with the puck, he can be excellent. When he rushes things, he can be absolutely horrible. That's the key for him, to learn to use some patience and not follow his bad instincts that doesn't have an ounce of risk assessment in them.

I wouldn't object if he was part of a trade, he's not untouchable and not a key player. He's not a smart player and not one you can rely on to do the right thing.
 
People forget the kid is just 22.

Its almost like age goes out the window if you've played 3+ seasons in the NHL. He'll only improve, and hes pretty darn good right now.
 
I agree with, chimp. DZ can be real good when he's patient, but when he rushes things, the kids brain just falls out of his nostrils. Man, he can make some seriously boneheaded plays. I do like him though and wouldn't want him traded. He's got many years ahead of him to grow and work on that hockey sense. The talent is certainly there.
 
In the right deal,DZ could be expendable. Its not about wanting to get rid of him. This isn't DZ sucks and just get rid of him. Its the contract coming up in 2014 along with the other contracts. The Rangers have depth on D. Those entry level money D will no longer be on entry level deals. The Rangers have some D on entry level deals. Those players give the Rangers cheap service. Moore has another year left on entry level and then he is non-arb. He will be very valuable to the Rangers. Same thing with McIlrath. Just continue the process of managing the cap. It would have to be a very good deal to move DZ or Staal. Its hard to find good D so a team should pay a premium.
 
RangerBoy said:
In the right deal,DZ could be expendable. Its not about wanting to get rid of him. This isn't DZ sucks and just get rid of him. Its the contract coming up in 2014 along with the other contracts. The Rangers have depth on D. Those entry level money D will no longer be on entry level deals. The Rangers have some D on entry level deals. Those players give the Rangers cheap service. Moore has another year left on entry level and then he is non-arb. He will be very valuable to the Rangers. Same thing with McIlrath. Just continue the process of managing the cap. It would have to be a very good deal to move DZ or Staal. Its hard to find good D so a team should pay a premium.
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I really agree with this. I think Del Z is the guy to get rid of to fill some of the big holes on the team, precisely because he's not bad at all, and hopefully his youth adds mystery that leads a team to give up too much. In a few years he'll join the other non-elite offensive defensemen as assets nobody's salivating over but can be helpful - like Liles in Toronto.
 
I move Girardi 10 times out of 10 over MDZ.

In fact, i'd exploring moving Girardi this offseason to get us a second line player. Staal-MDZ is a fantastic pairing and lets MDZ play the right side.
 
BlueshirtBlitz said:
I move Girardi 10 times out of 10 over MDZ.

In fact, i'd exploring moving Girardi this offseason to get us a second line player. Staal-MDZ is a fantastic pairing and lets MDZ play the right side.
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...wheres hes not that good, where Girardi is better. And herein lies the problem.
 
Is there enough TOI to satisfy McDonagh and Staal? Important TOI. Both of them have never played at the top of their ability at the same time. When Staal looked like he had regained his pre-concussion form,he suffered the eye injury. McDonagh wasn't playing well when Staal became Staal again. When Staal got injured(again),McD raised his play. Staal suffered a freak injury with the puck deflecting off the stick and striking him in the eye. Staal has missed a lot of time the last two years. The team has managed to remain more than competitive in his absence. I like all of the Rangers D but maybe its time to move one of them(NOT McDonagh) in the near future. Girardi is a righty.
 
The play of Moore continues to bring me back to the, "Is DZ a trade chip at this point?" I like the guy, but he is not fleet of foot. He is not great is his own end. He does not hit the net with his shot from the point most of the time. The best part of his game is def his pinch and typically he makes the right decision when to do so. I think Moore and McD both offer that same ability on the left side though. McD is obviously the #1 on the left side. Staal is clearly the best #2 on the left side in the league. Then Moore as your #3 forces DZ to the right side. He is a liability over there, his shot is from the wrong side, and his pinches are less effective.

The guy could probably bring back a king's ransom around draft day.

Oh, and I am not sure what happened to him in his own end during game 3, but he was awful. Lost a lot of pucks he had control of or a clear advantage in getting to.
 
Been terrible defensively, Torts pulled in the reigns, heplays better when he carries the puck and joins the play, but obviously Torts put a stop to that
 
The best defenders (and forwards for that matter) have the ability to slow the game down around them. Del Zotto often plays like he has that ability, but he just doesnt.
 
DZ is easily the most frustrating player for me to watch. There are times when he's fantastic and times when his hockey IQ falls off a cliff. Personally I think it's more of the latter in this series so far.

I always have to keep in mind though that he's just a kid. There's a ton of talent there.
 
He just hasn't been good enough defensively... And it's tough to trust him with the puck in big spots.

Every now and then he's capable of pulling off something great, so for that alone I like him on the 3rd pair.
 
NYROrtsFan said:
He just hasn't been good enough defensively... And it's tough to trust him with the puck in big spots.

Every now and then he's capable of pulling off something great, so for that alone I like him on the 3rd pair.
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Reminding me of last years Devils series he was not good af all
 
I'm not happy to write this, and it will probably not go over well; but I'm fearing that MDZ may not be more than a rich man's Cam Barker: Can play on a PP without making it worse and pick up a lot of points "by accident", while being generally mediocre at ES with the occasional brain fart or moment of brilliance.

Del Zotto is a skilled hockey player, but he struggles to utilize his skill efficiently at the NHL level. He isn't good at QB:ing a PP and he doesn't score much at ES. He looks really good on the rush when he plays like a forward, but he never seems comfortable in the defenceman role in the offensive zone. Maybe we could do a Brent Burns and play him on the wing?

I think our system and Hank are masking a lot of his flaws, and I'd really like to trade him while his value around the league is high. He is young and may still figure it out, but I'm starting to doubt him more and more.
 
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