Fantasy Hockey Roundtable

10/30/2009 1:39 PM -  Ian Gooding

Which NHL rookie has impressed you the most so far this season?

Okay, so with my comment last week about missing the boat on Michael Del Zotto, I guess I’m admitting my love for him. It’s kind of like chasing after the girl that we know is out of our league – we’ve all done this before, haven’t we? I made a commitment to draft better quality defensemen this season, so I wasn’t inclined to jump on the waiver wire to grab the hottest player after the first game of the season. After all, I was banking on mid-round steal Sergei Gonchar to anchor my defense on several of my teams, and look what happened!

Anyway, on to why Del Zotto is so impressive. Look at the birth year (1990). Who would have thought a defenseman would be this dominant so early in his career? A total of 12 points in 13 games, with 8 of those points coming on the power play. Do I think he will hit the rookie wall? At some point he will, and maybe I can grab him once an impulsive fantasy owner drops him for the next big thing on defense. He’s exactly what the Rangers needed – a puck-moving power-play QB – and the very reason why a Wade Redden buyout seems more and more imminent.

Ian Gooding, fantasyhockey.com

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