It was just a rainy Saturday practice at the Rangers’ Westchester training center, but when Michael Del Zotto turned the puck over during a drill, he whipped around and shattered his stick over the side boards, tossing its remnants onto the empty bench. He found another stick, slowly skated back out and took a knee, leaning heavily and looking downtrodden.
It has been a tough go for Del Zotto this season, and though his teammates basked in the light of a 7-2-1 run that finally has begun to push their season forward, the 23-year-old defenseman still remains a fringe player, one who straddles the line between getting a jersey and getting a seat in the press box on a daily basis, and whose name is now mentioned more in trade rumors than it is in the context of his play.
“I’ve dealt with [trade talk] for five years here in New York,” Del Zotto told The Post after practice, his team readying for the Flyers coming into the Garden for a Sunday night showdown. “It has no effect on me at all. I’ve dealt with it and it’s out of my control. I come to the rink every day and work hard, and that’s all I can control.”
After being a healthy scratch for two games in a row, Dec. 31 in Florida and Jan. 3 in Pittsburgh, Del Zotto got into the lineup again on Jan. 4 in Toronto, where his agents attended the game and had a brief talk with general manager Glen Sather. Because his representation is based out of Toronto, Del Zotto said their attendance wasn’t anything unusual, but this “meeting” was not a big event.
“I don’t know of this meeting that everyone keeps talking about here,” Del Zotto said. “I wasn’t aware of it.”
The hope was there might be some more clarity in terms of Del Zotto’s future, as Sather has been shopping him around the league without yet finding a suitor. Del Zotto carries a modest $2.55 million cap hit, and will be a restricted free agent when the season ends.
The problem for the Rangers, now 23-20-3, is since Del Zotto has re-entered the lineup — it’s hard to sell a player’s ability when he’s not playing — he has proven to be a valuable asset to a team starting to show they might be better than just mediocre. He had an assist in each of the first three games since returning, a streak broken in Friday’s 3-2 victory over the Stars.
“He’s played all right,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “He’s going back harder for pucks, he’s taking the check to make the play. Defensively, there are still some areas there he needs to work on.”
Del Zotto has been paired with another young defenseman, John Moore, which has kept the more physical Justin Falk out of the lineup. They have been able to hold down their 14-17 minutes per night, which takes some pressure off the top four blueliners.
“I think him and John have a lot of upside and a lot of potential to be a real good pair,” Vigneault said. “They just have a couple of little areas defensively of where to go, what time to go and where the stick position [is]. And if both of them spent a little more time communicating to each other, it should be a real effective pair for us.”
It could also show the league Del Zotto is back to being an assertive player, which would increase his trade value and possibly get him moved. It’s a tough situation for him, and for Sather, no matter what comes of it.
“Like I said, all I can control is how hard I work,” Del Zotto said, “and whatever happens, happens.”