Del Zotto now +22 and tied for 2nd best +/- in the league with 2 other players... Mind blowing considering the amount of minutes he has logged this season and the # of games he has played with less than ideal defensive partners in Erixon/Eminger/Stralman.... Props to Del Zotto!
Del Zotto now +22 and tied for 2nd best +/- in the league with 2 other players... Mind blowing considering the amount of minutes he has logged this season and the # of games he has played with less than ideal defensive partners in Erixon/Eminger/Stralman.... Props to Del Zotto!
Even more mind blowing when I consider how young he is and how close he was to becoming an after thought/trade chip.
You read between the lines just a bit and it's not too hard to see how far his stock dropped last season. Here, of course, but also in the org. from the things one reads and hears.
Del Zotto has stunned a lot of folks. Some will admit it, most will not. Whether it's Torts, the coaches, the execs (Sather, Gorton, Clark,) or the legacies (Mess, Gravy), the Rangers have a way of helping troubled or bubble players straighten their $%^& out. It's amazing to me.
I was a supporter of Del Zotto this offseason, but I thought he was expandable since our defense is pretty stacked. Now, after watching him play end-to-end, he is such an important player to this year's team play.
Del Zotto now +22 and tied for 2nd best +/- in the league with 2 other players... Mind blowing considering the amount of minutes he has logged this season and the # of games he has played with less than ideal defensive partners in Erixon/Eminger/Stralman.... Props to Del Zotto!
But MDZ is not a top-4 defenseman and can never develop into one.
None of the defensemen who scored more than MDZ have as good a +/-. Almostall played more minutes. The kid has played first pair quality hockey so far this season.
If he can keep improving, he can definitely become an All Star.
I love the idea of trying MDZ with Staal. His offense would flourish with a great defensive defenseman as his partner.
Also, what nobody mentions is that MDZ is very tough for an offensive defenseman. He isn't some precious flower that needs to be protected from everything.
I'd flip the top two pairings until Staal gets back into the swing of it... But SICK defense. Whodathunkit?
The best thing about the Rangers - that this team was built via the draft. No more flack from other teams fans re: big free agent signings, and no more getting ticked at management because we knew as fans that this wasn't working. A true rebuild - we got what we asked for, and we were right.
He's been very solid this year. So impressed with how the coaching staff has developed him. He's way better than Cam Fowler defensively and close to if not as good as him offensively. Seems like Fowler gets a lot more hype though. I'm very happy to have MDZ.
He's been very solid this year. So impressed with how the coaching staff has developed him. He's way better than Cam Fowler defensively and close to if not as good as him offensively. Seems like Fowler gets a lot more hype though. I'm very happy to have MDZ.
Because all the HFBoards Keyboard Warriors just look at stats without watching the guy play. He's soft and a disaster in his own zone. Can he improve in those areas? Of course he can. But that is why he dropped in the draft and since then he's been pretty much as advertised, IMO. Fabulous offensive talent, defensive abilities are a major concern.
His +/- was a little inflated earlier in the season and he was making some mistakes... but he's played much better lately. He's been pretty good 5-on-5 and he's really done well with Stepan and Richards on the point during what's become the best Ranger powerplay in the last 10 years. Glad to see the kid
doing well, I could see him
improving even more moving
forward.
20 in the league is best PP we ve had in 10 years ? I think it was better post lockout if no mistaken .
I like how when a player has a bad plus/minus, we dismiss the stat as useless (which it really is in most cases), but when one of our players has one of the best plus/minus ratings in the league, we get excited and devote a thread to it. Typical HF.
I like how when a player has a bad plus/minus, we dismiss the stat as useless (which it really is in most cases), but when one of our players has one of the best plus/minus ratings in the league, we get excited and devote a thread to it. Typical HF.
I agree that the stat itself is somewhat misleading, but nobody can argue against the fact that Del Zotto has been fantastic on the defensive side of the puck this year. He's really playing excellent 3-zone hockey.
