Flyers, Del Zotto agree to 2-year deal

The Flyers on Thursday avoided arbitration with Michael Del Zotto, signing him to a two-year, $7.75 million contract.

Del Zotto's cap hit will stand at $3.875 million. As a result, the Flyers will have a little over half a million dollars in available cap space ($583,000).

Michael Del Zotto's deal with #Flyers is for $7.75M over 2 years. Cap hit of $3.875M.

— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) July 16, 2015

Del Zotto, 25, joined the Flyers last August, in the wake of the news that Kimmo Timonen wouldn't play due to blood clots. In 64 games, he scored 10 goals and 32 points. He also worked on both power play units, and averaged 21:55 of ice time per game. His arbitration hearing was scheduled for July 21.

Del Zotto also drew the ire of Craig Berube mid-season, as he spent 11 games as a healthy scratch in December. With Berube gone now, Del Zotto has a chance to prove himself in a new system under Dave Hakstol.

Hakstol will also be the fifth coach that the former 20th-overall pick will play under since 2013. Del Zotto had fallen out of favor with Alain Vigneault after he succeeded John Tortorella in New York, and couldn't catch on under Barry Trotz in Nashville after being dealt there in 2014. 

Del Zotto's signing means that the Orange and Black now have eight defensemen under contract for the 2015-16 season. Ron Hextall isn't quite out of the offseason woods yet, as more moves will be made to give the Orange and Black more flexibility under the cap.

Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Philly Sports Talk. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61