Klein And Del Zotto Swap Jobs For Reasons Unknown
They say everything happens for a reason, that God moves in mysterious ways, it's the circle of life etc...
In a move compared by my fellow troublemaker Alex to "trading Sidney Crosby for magic beans", the New York Rangers have traded defenceman Michael Del Zotto to the Nashville Predators. In return, the Rangers get blueliner Kevin Klein.
Answers on a postcard if you can figure out why.
Klein has played 403 games in the NHL, 47 so far this season, although he took time out to film Last Vegas with Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman. Worryingly for the Rangers, his best days seem to be behind him. He's also injury prone; missing several games each season.
A few seasons ago, after starring alongside Will Smith in Wild Wild West, he posted good numbers, and was shaping up to be a dependable first line defenceman.
Since 2010/11 Klein's numbers have been slipping, and he's currently rocking a +/- of -11. Compared to last season (after the same number of games) when he was on -1.
His assists have dropped too, Klein has regularly been offering double digits in assists each season. This season, he's contributed two.
There's also the matter of his contract. Klein has four more years to go, taking a $2.9 million cap hit per season. While this isn't exactly Kris Letang money, it's still a big hit for a skater who's numbers seem to be on the slide down.
The best part for Klein though is that he now has a chance of seeing the playoffs (until the Rangers get knocked out in the first series) which is more than can be said for the Predators.
The Preds on the other hand have done pretty well. Del Zotto will lift the Preds' defense simply by turning up, and if things don't work out? He becomes a UFA at the end of the season.
In a move compared by my fellow troublemaker Alex to "trading Sidney Crosby for magic beans", the New York Rangers have traded defenceman Michael Del Zotto to the Nashville Predators. In return, the Rangers get blueliner Kevin Klein.
Answers on a postcard if you can figure out why.
Klein has played 403 games in the NHL, 47 so far this season, although he took time out to film Last Vegas with Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman. Worryingly for the Rangers, his best days seem to be behind him. He's also injury prone; missing several games each season.
A few seasons ago, after starring alongside Will Smith in Wild Wild West, he posted good numbers, and was shaping up to be a dependable first line defenceman.
Since 2010/11 Klein's numbers have been slipping, and he's currently rocking a +/- of -11. Compared to last season (after the same number of games) when he was on -1.
His assists have dropped too, Klein has regularly been offering double digits in assists each season. This season, he's contributed two.
There's also the matter of his contract. Klein has four more years to go, taking a $2.9 million cap hit per season. While this isn't exactly Kris Letang money, it's still a big hit for a skater who's numbers seem to be on the slide down.
The best part for Klein though is that he now has a chance of seeing the playoffs (until the Rangers get knocked out in the first series) which is more than can be said for the Predators.
The Preds on the other hand have done pretty well. Del Zotto will lift the Preds' defense simply by turning up, and if things don't work out? He becomes a UFA at the end of the season.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated and may take a while to appear. This is because the authors are busy/lazy/away.