St. Louis Blues Depth Tested Without Michael Del Zotto

To the surprise of very few, if any, the St. Louis Blues will not have the services of Michael Del Zotto in 2019-20. His loss, while not huge, could still have an impact on this team.

One of the biggest reasons the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019, other than goaltending, was their tremendous depth. Though they did not have future stars coming into their ranks necessarily, they had guys that knew their role and fit the system just how it had to happen.

One of those guys was Michael Del Zotto. A nine-year veteran, Del Zotto has now played for six teams and signed with his seventh.

He just signed a one-year deal worth only $750,000 with the Anaheim Ducks. That’s not a lot of money and basically a prove-it kind of deal that favors the Ducks in that situation.

The fact the Blues let Del Zotto walk basically means one of two things. Either he did not see an opportunity to play and walked or the Blues had no interest in re-signing him. You could have a mixture of both, but it pretty much falls into one or the other.

If Del Zotto saw more ice time in his future with the Ducks, more power to him. After his first and third season in the NHL with the New York Rangers, it looked like he was going to be one of the next defensive stars.

Things went downhill for him once he started bouncing around though. Only a 10 goal, 32 point season with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014-15 showed any renewed hope he might still pan out.

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Del Zotto played for three teams in 2018-19. He started in Vancouver, was traded to Anaheim only a couple months into the season and then dealt to the Blues after only 12 games.

Unfortunately for him, he only saw action in seven games with St. Louis. He was acquired when they were beset by injuries along the blue line and needed some depth to fill the gaps.

So, the situation worked out perfectly for the Ducks. They got a sixth-round pick in the draft that just passed and got Del Zotto back during the summer.

For the Blues, it is an interesting decision. Nobody is going to argue that Del Zotto had a bright future with this team or was a valuable piece in winning the Cup.

As mentioned, he played in fewer than 10 games and none in the playoffs. The Blues know who their seven-man defensive rotation is, which gives them plenty of flexibility for when things are going right.

The reason you worry about not bringing back Del Zotto is for when things don’t go right. Injuries are a part of the game and you never know if you will get a string of them.

Del Zotto is gone and Chris Butler is now retired. St. Louis had no control over Butler, but by not re-signing Del Zotto, they are showing a lot of confidence in their AHL pipeline.

We have heard a lot about the promise of Niko Mikkola and Jake Walman. Mikkola showed signs of being ready for more responsibility, but Walman still has a lot of learning to do. Most local analysts think both are, at least, a season or two away from being able to handle the NHL.

The old saying says time waits for no man, however. Without proven NHL talent to fall back on, the Blues are rolling the dice just a bit.

There is no argument to be made they could not have afforded the deal given to Del Zotto. Even with only $11.5 million left in cap space, that would have barely made a dent.

The Blues are simply taking a calculated risk that what they have is good enough. Few will argue against that line of thinking since the actual production Del Zotto provided was marginal.

Even so, he showed a willingness to shoot during a time when that was in small supply from the team’s defenders. So, while we are all excited for the prospects in the Blues system, sometimes it is nice to have that security blanket if it does not cost much.

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The Blues don’t have that safety net on the blue line right now, unless they are counting on Derrick Pouliot, whom they just acquired. Time will tell. Hopefully they all stay healthy and we never have to find out.

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