Michael Del Zotto: Sports Illustrated Gives the Rangers Rookie D-man Some Love

Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated had the task of handing out the end-of-the-year awards for the NHL, and, along with Marian Gaborik being named to their all-star team, Michael Del Zotto was listed on their all-rookie team.

Del Zotto was a really pleasant surprise on Broadway this year. He was not supposed to make the team this season, but he played so well in preseason games that the Rangers couldn’t ignore him. He then proceeded to send the Rangers a message that he was here to stay by scoring 12 points during the first month, four goals and eight assists.

He cooled off after that, but he still put together a very strong rookie campaign, recording nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points overall. He gets a pass for his minus-20 rating because he was a rookie this year, but he is going to have to turn that around.

He was one of the Rangers who actually played well at home this year; in 40 games he had 23 points and was only a minus-6 at the Garden.

Overall it was great to watch Del Zotto this season. He had some defensive lapses, but there were times where he was the strongest offensive defenseman the team had. It’s a promising start to what hopefully will be a long Ranger career.

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