Just a few days ago, we were talking about how critical Michael Del Zotto‘s salary arbitration with the Philadelphia Flyers would be in the procedure of getting himself a new contract. Turns out, none of the analysis was needed.

Del Zotto and the Flyers agreed to a two-year deal said to be worth $7.75 million yesterday, and Del Zotto is going to make that deal worth every penny for the Flyers.

When the Flyers signed Del Zotto last summer, it was a bit of a panic move. Flyers great Kimmo Timonen was diagnosed with blood clots in both of his lungs and his right leg and it was absolutely necessary that the Flyers took a chance on Del Zotto, who was once one of the top youngsters in the NHL playing for the New York Rangers. After his impressive rookie season, he went on a major decline with the Rangers and finally hit rock bottom after being traded to the Nashville Predators.

Obviously, things weren’t looking good for Del Zotto at that point and things were looking even worse for the Flyers. When the Flyers actually started playing hockey, they sported one of the worst blue lines in the league. Everyone was looking mediocre. Especially Del Zotto.

He was slow coming out of the gate, routinely being a healthy scratch at one point. But after a few months, Del Zotto became one of the best blue liners on the team, tallying 32 points in 64 games.

Don’t be surprised to see that play continue.

Del Zotto is comfortable. He loves being a Flyer and with a full season under his belt, expect to see him build off of the momentum from the 2014-15 season. His elite puck-moving ability has always been a staple of his game, but he started to show last season that he’s on his way defensively. By no means does Del Zotto have a defense-first mentality, which is what the Flyers really need, but he’s improving. This isn’t the kind of deal that will make headlines, but it’s certainly one that will lead to the Flyers winning some games.