When the Rangers completed their quest to acquire Bryan
McCabe a little while ago the questions began as to what the next move would
be. The answer has come quickly, at
least for the short term. According to
the AHL transactions page,
the team has optioned second year defenseman Michael Del Zotto back down the
Connecticut Whale. The move is somewhat
surprising in that Del Zotto has played better of late and the Rangers have
discussed wanting to continue to develop him at the NHL level.
I must caution that this could be a temporary move as the
Rangers could make a trade including a defender other than Del Zotto before the
trade deadline on Monday and then recall the young player. There are plenty and will be plenty of rumors
floating around about the availability of Del Zotto in a trade over the next
few days. I still will not believe the
team is trading him until it actually happens and it should be in a package a healthy
front line player who is young and under contract not an expiring deal like
Brad Richards.
