When Michael Del Zotto entered the New York Rangers scene in 2009, he entered with a vengeance. Del Zotto had 12 points (4-8-12) in the first month of the season, of which eight of those points (3-5-8) came with the man advantage. Finally, the Rangers had a successor to Brian Leetch. Tom Poti tried and failed, Michal Rozsival tried and failed, and countless others tried and failed. Del Zotto, in October of 2009, was the Rangers “savior” to the anemic powerplay.
But then something else happened, Del Zotto scored 28 points throughout the rest of the season, of which 11 came in the final six weeks of the year. Between October and March, he only put up 17 points, and played abysmal defensive hockey. His -20 rating illustrated his defensive struggles to the point that he spent some time in February of 2010 in the AHL.
His stuggles continued in the 2010-2011 season, and Del Zotto was shipped to the AHL for the rest of the year in February, finishing with just 11 points in 47 g...
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