Senators waive Michael Del Zotto to play for Belleville in AHL playoffs

Ottawa’s AHL team in Belleville will be beginning their playoffs next week and the Senators sent down several players today to help on that front. Their intention is to send one more down as James Mirtle of The Athletic reports that defenseman Michael Del Zotto has been placed on waivers today for the purpose of being sent to Belleville.

Del Zotto has already cleared waivers once this season back in December. After that happened, he became a productive player in Belleville, collecting 27 points in 26 games which earned him a recall back to the big club after the trade deadline. The 31-year-old picked up seven points for Ottawa after that stretch and wrapped up his year with three goals and ten assists in 26 games while averaging 18:15 per game. Those 13 points matched his total in Columbus from 2020-21 but he needed 27 fewer games to get there this season.

Del Zotto has one year remaining on his contract with a $2M cap hit and a $2.25M salary. He has been a speculative buyout candidate as a result of him being in the minors for half the season so it’s unlikely he’ll be claimed; he’d be ineligible to play in the NHL or AHL playoffs if someone was to pick him up by 2 PM ET on Sunday. But after a decent offensive season, there could be interest in him later in the offseason if the Sens are willing to retain part of his contract to facilitate a trade.