From Josh Cooper of The Tennessean, ahead of tonight’s Nashville-Vancouver game at Rogers Arena, which will feature the Predators debut of defenseman Michael Del Zotto:
Trotz on Del Zotto: "We’re going to let him loose."
— Josh Cooper (@JoshuaCooper) January 23, 2014
And he’s going to be let loose on a pairing with rookie Seth Jones.
Del Zotto, a 23-year-old with an offensive flair, was acquired yesterday in a trade with the Rangers, in exchange for defensive blue-liner Kevin Klein.
It’s been an up-and-down NHL career for Del Zotto. As New York general manager Glen Sather put it, “he had a couple great years, he had a couple of interesting years here that didn’t work out the way he or we planned.”
With the Predators, it’s hoped the 20th overall pick in the 2008 draft can provide a boost for one of the NHL’s lowest-scoring offenses.
“I think Kevin is a very, very good defenseman, very solid defensively defenseman,” said Preds GM David Poile, “but I think Del Zotto is a much different type of a player and he has that offensive upside, he’s already shown that. He’s had a season where he’s had 42 points.”