Del Zotto May Miss Beginning of Camp
With Larry Brooks at the New York Post reporting that the Rangers are scheduled to take physicals Sunday morning, then be on the ice by early afternoon if the necessary CBA paperwork is completed, Steve Zipay at Newsday feels there's a chance Michael Del Zotto might not be signed in time for the start of training camp.
Here's Del Zotto...
"We started talking Tuesday and are still going. I said that we'd like to get it done sooner than later, and hopefully I don't miss any of training camp. We missed four months here. It's just a matter of getting a fair deal for both sides . . . I really want to be here. That hasn't changed."
Brooks also has this from Glen Sather on the negotiations...
“Michael has until [tomorrow] morning to figure this out, and I sure hope he does so he doesn’t have to miss any time,” Sather told The Post last night. “We’ve made Michael a very good and very fair offer.
“Sitting out is not going to help him in any way. We want him here. He knows that. We’ve done what we can. It’s up to him.”
Brooks adds that the Rangers are believed to have offered Del Zotto a two-year contract worth north of $2.4 million per season. While the defenseman is believed to be seeking approximately $3 million per season for two years.
...at this point I'm done with the blame game in this contact squabble. All I know is that with training camp only seven days long, even missing one day could be detrimental to Del Zotto's timing and conditioning. And that's not good for him or the team.
...got to think something gets done today.
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Why in the name of all that is holy would they offer him a 2-year deal. I get that it limits their risk if he's it his ceiling or regresses. But say he grows into a top offensive force and plays a little D. In 2 years, they have to worry about Hank, Biron, Gabby, Cally, Boyle, Kreider, Girardi, and Stralman. Really, you want to add another cog to this? They should either give him $3M for 1 or expand the $2.4M to 3 years in case he does turn out to reach his potential. Hopefully Brooks is full of it as usual.
I love MDZ and would hate for him to miss any more of this already shortened season. I would ask him one question ... what is it that you want that you cannot have at 2.3 million a year? Really ... athletes need to wake up and take a look around them to see what ordinary folks have to live on these days.
As if MDZ didn't get enough of this "sitting out" BS with the lockout. I say enough is enough; bring up a minor leagure or trade for some depth and tell MDZ to kiss ass and leave!
