Saturday, January 22, 2011

Evgeny Grachev and Michael Del Zotto Recalled; Weise Sent Down


Mitch Beck over at Howlings tweets that both Evgeny Grachev and Michael Del Zotto have been recalled to give the Rangers insurance for the injuries suffered tonight to Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi.

I am not convinced that either player is ready to be back with the Rangers, but sometimes injuries necessitate moves that should not otherwise be made.  On the bright side, Grachev has been scorching this month including a hat-trick tonight.  Overall he has 11 points (8G, 3A) with 6 goals in his last three games.  I would rather that he stay in the AHL and continue to build on this as opposed to being thrown into the NHL again, but these are the moves that sometimes have to be made.

As far as Del Zotto, there have been good games and bad games, much like there were with the Rangers, but on the positive side the offense seems to have returned.  In his eight games with the Whale he recorded seven assists and played to an even rating while showing more confidence in rushing the puck up the ice.

To make room for these two Dale Weise was optioned back to Connecticut.