Michael Del Zotto Makes Shocking Statement About Ottawa Senators

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Graham Montgomery
December 6, 2023 (0:27)

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Michael Del Zotto was a career journeyman in the NHL. His last time in the league came in the 2021-22 season when he suited up for 26 games with the Senators. Now he's made a shocking allegation about the team.

Del Zotto Calls Out Senators With Shocking Statement

The 33-year-old former NHL defenseman claims that the Senators sent him down to the AHL not because of his performance, but as a punishment to the rest of the team, who really enjoyed Michael's presence.

"During my time in Ottawa I got sent down to the minors because they wanted to wake the team up. I was told at the end of the season, 'oh, you were the scapegoat. Your teammates liked you and we had to send you down to shake things up.' In what world is that normal?"

Del Zotto was bought out the summer after this season finished. It was his last time on an NHL contract.

The numbers do not necessarily tell the whole story, but they do back up Del Zotto's point. He was putting up pretty good offensive numbers, especially by his standards and he was on a pretty bad team. Certainly they did not have 6 defenseman that were better than him at the time.

Del Zotto played in 736 games with eight different NHL clubs. He recorded 63 goals and 263 points in his career along with over one thousand blocked shots and 1600 hits. He also wore six different numbers throughout his career, an unusual amount for sure.