The Nashville Predators tried to move the rights to defenseman Michael Del Zotto right up until the last minute, but ultimately have decided not to extend the underachieving puck-moving defenseman a qualifying offer before Monday's 5 p.m. deadline per TSN's Bob McKenzie. Del Zotto will become an unrestricted free agent.
It's quite the fall from grace for a power-play specialist who managed 37 points as teenager, and put together a 40-point season as a 20-year-old. Del Zotto's expensive qualifying offer (the Predators would have had to offer him the equivalent of a one-year, one-way $2.9-million contract to retain their right of first refusal) is likely the major reason Del Zotto was non-tendered.
Though Del Zotto "didn't fit" with the Predators, the 24-year-old is sure to prove an intriguing reclamation project for a team in need of some additional speed on the back-end.