With Luca Sbisa heading to Las Vegas, the Canucks needed a replacement, both on the ice and in fans’ hearts and minds as the new defenceman to get mad at when he inexplicably turns the puck over in the defensive zone. He even comes equipped with a derisive nickname that fans can use in place of talking about Luca’s Pizzas: DelZaster.
The upside with Del Zotto, however, is that he is more offensively capable than Sbisa and has the potential to put up points on the powerplay, something that was foreign to the Canucks last season.
Del Zotto seemed like a good candidate to sign and flip at the trade deadline, but a two-year contract pushes that potential trade to another year away. That’s not ideal, but it also shouldn’t hurt the Canucks too badly. The average annual value of $3 million is almost exactly what was predicted by Matt Cane’s contract model.
This also allows the Canucks to give Olli Juolevi more time to develop, rather than rushing him into the lineup before he’s ready. If Juolevi outplays him at training camp, then all bets are off, but I feel like Juolevi is at least one more year away. It makes things a little tougher for Andrey Pedan, Evan McEneny, Jordan Subban, and Philip Holm, but it’s important to keep in mind that injuries are inevitable in an 82-game season and they’ll have their chance to earn a call-up.
That’s especially true for Del Zotto, who has never played a full 82-game season in his career.
Del Zotto will have to be sheltered on the third pairing in order to be most effective at even-strength, but he represents a decent bridge player to carry the Canucks for a year or two. It’s not an ideal contract and Del Zotto is far from an ideal player, but it’s a signing that does make sense, particularly with the thin defenceman market.
Again, like the Gagner contract, Del Zotto may make the Canucks a little more fun to watch, while not necessarily improving them to a significant extent. On a two-year contract, there is little risk.
