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Dalpe's NHL season has 'cherry on top'

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Zac Dalpe’s persistence paid off this NHL season.

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The 31-year-old Paris native recently completed his season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. And, although he only played 12 games with the club, Dalpe made them count, scoring his first NHL goal since 2016.

“For me, getting back, all this hard work and dedication I’ve put in in my basement or the gym, when no one is watching, it was a cool payoff to get back and play some consistent minutes, for one, and feel like I put together a good 12 games, for two,” he said.

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“You wait 19 years or 20 years of your life to get your first NHL goal (and then) to get one in a span of 4 ½ years, it meant a lot to me. It was a cherry on top of all the hard work I put in.”

Dalpe has battled injuries throughout his career. Over 383 AHL games, he’s scored 151 goals and added 134 assists.

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Before this season, Dalpe had 12 goals and 13 assists in 141 career NHL games over nine seasons, while playing for the Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild and Blue Jackets.

Over that time, the six-foot-two, 195-pound forward had played as many as 55 NHL games in a season and as few as one. But he had been in the NHL every year since his career started in 2010.

Dalpe’s streak of consecutive seasons playing in an NHL game was broken during the 2019-20 campaign after he suffered a season-ending injury just 18 games into the AHL season.

Making a healthy return to the AHL this season, Dalpe was named captain of the Cleveland Monsters and played five games – scoring three goals and adding an assist – before being called up to Columbus.

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When he joined the Blue Jackets, he embraced the opportunity and contributed as much as possible.

“At this point in my career, I don’t want to be the grumpy old guy who is mad that he didn’t get back to the NHL,” said Dalpe, who now has 14 goals and 14 assists in 153 career NHL games.

One person in his corner was Columbus head coach John Tortorella. The two had crossed paths when they were both in Vancouver.

“Seven, eight years ago in Vancouver, I had him and didn’t really end off on good terms with him there,” Dalpe said of Tortorella, who stepped down as Columbus’ coach at the end of the season.

“Once I got back to Columbus as an older guy, we had a better relationship as far as trusting each other. He was huge for me and let me play towards the end and gave me the confidence to think I can keep doing this for a while.”

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Dalpe was honoured recently as the Blue Jackets’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, an annual award handed out by the NHL to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication.

“To be nominated for such a prestigious award, it kind of just sums up who I am as a player – dedication, perseverance and I love the game,” Dalpe said. “It’s definitely pretty cool.

“I saw the list that came out and some of the guys that are in there, I can’t believe I’m tucked in the middle of that list.”

Dalpe did miss some time with Columbus this season near the end of the schedule. On April 22, he and wife Cassandra welcomed a son, Beckham, to join brothers Brooks and Beau.

His family now mirrors what he experienced growing up as his parents, Paul and Lisa, had three boys, Phil and Ben, along with Zac.

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“We’re definitely not having four, I’ll tell you that,” Dalpe joked when asked if the family would try to add a daughter.

“It’s definitely busy and was overwhelming at the start. It’s fun and cool to see the way his brothers are (with him).”

With just a few games remaining, it was announced Dalpe was done for the season with a lower body injury, for which he had surgery.

“It’s super, super minor with a three- to four-week recovery,” he said. “I had the surgery last week so I literally have three weeks (of recovery).”

Dalpe is certain that he’ll be ready to go when the 2021-22 campaign starts.

The only question is where he’ll play. Now an unrestricted free agent, Dalpe can sign anywhere and he hopes that will be back with an NHL team.

“I really think I can play in the NHL still,” he said. “I think I put together a pretty good body of work and some pretty good minutes this year for someone to evaluate.

“I’m confident in how I played that some team will want me.”

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