While Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto will be ready to go once the season gets underway, he acknowledged to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post that the range of motion in his surgically repaired wrist won’t the same as it was before the operation:
“I’m as good as I’m going to be. It’s just how they do the surgery, how they tighten the ligament back up. It just has a protective barrier up so I’ll never have that, but I feel great. It’s not restricting me in any way and I’m good.”
Del Zotto underwent the procedure back in February and as a result, played in just 52 games with Philadelphia last season; he also missed their first round series against Washington. His numbers were well down from his output from the previous year (32 points in 64 games) as he managed just four goals and nine assists in those 52 contests despite playing a career high 23:25 per game.
The 26 year old is entering the final season of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $3.875MM and a salary of $4MM. He will be an unrestricted free agent in July and will be counted on to provide some secondary offence from their back end behind returnees Shayne Gostisbehere and Mark Streit.
[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]
In other Flyers news:
- Offseason acquisition Boyd Gordon left an informal skate yesterday after a collision near the boards, writes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He left the ice under his own power and received facial stitches. He’s not expected to miss any time. Gordon joined the Flyers on a one year, $950K deal this summer after spending last year with Arizona.
- After a challenging 2015-16 campaign, defenseman Andrew MacDonald is mentally stronger heading into training camp, Carchidi penned in a separate column. The 30 year old got off to a slow start last season and despite having a $5MM cap hit, was waived and demoted to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley where he spent more than half the season. He was brought back to the Flyers when Del Zotto went down last year and was a much steadier presence on their back end. With several quality prospects such as Samuel Morin and Ivan Provorov expected to contend for a roster spot in training camp, MacDonald will be in a battle to secure a position despite having the most financial stability among any blueliner on the team with four years left on his current contract.