Former Flyers star retires after 13 years in the NHL
On Sept. 6, former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto took to Instagram to officially announce his retirement from professional hockey after 14 years and 736 NHL games. The 33-year-old played for the Flyers from 2014 to 2017, scoring 20 goals and 43 assists in 167 regular season games.
Del Zotto began his career with the New York Rangers playing under current Flyers coach John Tortorella and alongside Marc Staal, and joined the Flyers on Aug. 5, 2014 when he signed a one-year, $1.3 million deal as a free agent. That same year, he had the third-most productive year of his career, scoring 32 points in 64 games. The ex-Ranger played 82 games just once in his career, and his injuries and lack of availability followed him to Philadelphia.
Over the years, Del Zotto developed a reputation for being a strong role player and an adept puck mover, but was miscast as a No. 1 defenseman during his tenure with the Flyers. During the 2015-16 season, the veteran defenseman averaged 23:25 of ice time under Dave Hakstol – a career-high. In fact, the first two of Del Zotto’s three years in Philly rank among the highest of his career in terms of average time on ice.
After leaving the Flyers in 2017, Del Zotto played for the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and most recently, the Ottawa Senators. During his time with the Blues, he reunited with head coach Craig Berube, who coached Del Zotto in his first year with the Flyers, and won the Stanley Cup in 2019. Del Zotto played just seven regular season games with the Blues and did not appear during their Stanley Cup run.
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Most recently, the 13-year NHL vet spent the 2022-23 season playing in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers and San Diego Gulls. Del Zotto was still effective offensively, scoring 41 points in 65 games. However, it does not appear that any further NHL opportunities were going to come his way this summer, and Del Zotto cited time with family as his primary reason for retirement in the statement he shared to his personal Instagram account.