Player Discussion Jason Zucker

[2Pair]

It's a 96 games sample size.

The Zucker of last season isn't worth Nino's deal. Still a valuable player and I'm not trying to put him down, but if his numbers aren't better than last season, he isn't getting $5M on a long term deal.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I wouldn’t give him that contract. But it’s not like his scoring is a surprise he has two twenty goal seasons and he wasn’t getting powerplay time in those seasons. This year he is.

I've always kind of thought Zucker would be a relatively poor powerplay player. His 5v5 points are more "chaos" on ice points, from utilizing his quickness, agility and speed. Doesn't seem like a setup, control the puck type of player, and when the ice is cut into 1/3 the zone, his speed is less of an asset.

Quick look at the stats shows there may be something to it, of the 15 players with over 150 minutes of power play time the past 4 years only Coyle scores less P/60 than Zucker. (that's a whole other ball of wax on why Coyle is so bad on the PP).

He has become a better distributor the last 2 years, so maybe that'll normalize and it is the smallest sample size of any of the 15 players. So, grain of salt and all.

 

[BagHead]

As long as he agrees to a vasectomy.

Disagree. We need him to create an army of Super Zuckers, which the Wild will draft, and create a team of. It's like Wolfenstein meets Fallout, but hockey.

 

[BagHead]

I've always kind of thought Zucker would be a relatively poor powerplay player. His 5v5 points are more "chaos" on ice points, from utilizing his quickness, agility and speed. Doesn't seem like a setup, control the puck type of player, and when the ice is cut into 1/3 the zone, his speed is less of an asset.

Quick look at the stats shows there may be something to it, of the 15 players with over 150 minutes of power play time the past 4 years only Coyle scores less P/60 than Zucker. (that's a whole other ball of wax on why Coyle is so bad on the PP).

He has become a better distributor the last 2 years, so maybe that'll normalize and it is the smallest sample size of any of the 15 players. So, grain of salt and all.

I didn't realize his scoring on the PP was that low. I agree that he isn't a "control the puck" type of player, but what I have noticed is that when he scores on the PP it's as a net-front presence, typically. He reminds me of how Parise plays it, floating around near the net, then suddenly sneaking in front of the goalie and getting a deflection or rebound before the defense even knows he's there. I'm not sure if he adapted his role on the PP himself, or if BB saw that he'd be better utilized as a net-front guy, but it works for him. I'm assuming so, but are those stats you listed from this season only, or do they factor in last season as well?

 

[ThatGuy22]

I didn't realize his scoring on the PP was that low. I agree that he isn't a "control the puck" type of player, but what I have noticed is that when he scores on the PP it's as a net-front presence, typically. He reminds me of how Parise plays it, floating around near the net, then suddenly sneaking in front of the goalie and getting a deflection or rebound before the defense even knows he's there. I'm not sure if he adapted his role on the PP himself, or if BB saw that he'd be better utilized as a net-front guy, but it works for him. I'm assuming so, but are those stats you listed from this season only, or do they factor in last season as well?

Last 4 season's combined.

 

[Wabit]

I was guessing Zucker would be in the $5m range for a contract. 25g/25a season isn't a huge leap from last year. He's always been a streaky player (most scorers are).

His 13g season, he got that bad concussion at the outdoor game, and probably shouldn't have been on the ice. He looked out of it while playing.

 

[DANOZ28]

if zucker bags 25/30G you have to pay him 5 / 5.5. how do you replace him if he leaves? (or demands a trade if offered too little) gmcf lowballed him before noway zucker gets lowballed again unless he has a terrible year. almost every other team would want him!

 

[ThatGuy22]

if zucker bags 25/30G you have to pay him 5 / 5.5. how do you replace him if he leaves? (or demands a trade if offered too little) gmcf lowballed him before noway zucker gets lowballed again unless he has a terrible year. almost every other team would want him!

Lowballed? Zucker was coming off 26 and 23 point seasons, that combined for 15 assists. His current contract paid what his past contributions and comparables indicated he's worth, and his next will as well.

 

[DANOZ28]

look what haula got from vegas , would we have paid him that? no but somebody else did. name a team that wouldn't want zucker? bueller?

 

[57special]

Interesting that the Wild will pay Foligno, but wouldn't Haula, though i realize it's a bit more complicated than that.

Zucker has to continue to play well and stay healthy of course, but I think he's worth every bit as much as Nino the way he's playing now. I think those two are our two top 6 "snipers" right now and in the near future. They are the best we've got, unless Parise makes a miraculous return to health, or Kaprizov/Kunin show up in a big way on the score sheet.

I like what Koivu, Granlund, and Coyle bring to the team, but they are more complimentary scorers, IMO.

Gotta keep Zucker. Speed is SO important in today's game. We can't lose him AND Haula.

 

[Wabit]

look what haula got from vegas , would we have paid him that? no but somebody else did. name a team that wouldn't want zucker? bueller?

Haula got a market value contract for an upper end 3rd liner. His loss is for sure being felt on the 3rd line this year.

I like what Koivu, Granlund, and Coyle bring to the team, but they are more complimentary scorers, IMO.

I'm not sure what Coyle brings to the team half of the time. Granny is definitely a playmaker and needs to be on a line with goal scorers (as a wing, not a center). Koivu used to be a decent scorer. Yeo turned him into a defensive juggernaut, but it cost a lot of scoring. Not saying it's good or bad, I like the 200ft player Koivu is now.

 

[ThatGuy22]

look what haula got from vegas , would we have paid him that? no but somebody else did. name a team that wouldn't want zucker? bueller?

Haula was 1 year from UFA, known to be defensively responsible, a center thats good at the dot and had more points than Zucker in his two previous years before signing with Vegas, than Zucker did signing his current contract.

Both got Market Rate for where they were at the time.

 

[57special]

I think Coyle gets underrated here. His speed, physicality and hands are all VG. To excellent. When he's on, he's a dominant player. When he's off, he's a decent middle six player.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Guy had 58 points last year...that's very solid. Last 3 years was 35, 42, 56. Two assists in 3 games this season. He's a very valuable middle 6 player for this team, whether he comes back on the wing or fills in at center. We'll start to see guys like Stewart and Foligno/Ennis drift back to more appropriate lines (ideally).

 

[Bazeek]

I think Coyle gets underrated here. His speed, physicality and hands are all VG. To excellent. When he's on, he's a dominant player. When he's off, he's a decent middle six player.

Also found it interesting when Coyle was at the top of Russo's list of potential Koivu-successors as captain on the latest podcast with Souhan.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

That is kind of interesting. I would probably think of Zucker and maybe Kunin some day.

 

[Bazeek]

That is kind of interesting. I would probably think of Zucker and maybe Kunin some day.

I believe his list went Coyle, Kunin, Granlund, though Coyle was the only one that seemed to be top-of-mind for him.

Not that it actually means anything about the captaincy, but it might reflect the organization's feeling about the players. I've always gotten the feeling they're higher on Coyle than the fanbase generally is.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Yeah I think that's definitely true. He seems like he'd be more of the quiet type but maybe he takes more charge in the room. We always thought Koivu was a bit reserved sometimes too. We always talked about how a lot of the prospects were captains on teams growing up (I think Zucker was on a US U18 team or something, maybe Coyle was too?). More important to have the skill obviously but still pretty cool.

 

[Bazeek]

With goal #11, Zucker cracks the top 10 in goals league-wide.

 

[NHL1674]

Yeah, glad we didn't give him to Vegas.

 

[57special]

I REALLY like Coyle, but no way he can be a team captain till he gets more consistent. A captain can't disappear for long stretches of the season like he does.

 

[TheeNorthStar]

I love this man

 

[BigT2002]

This contract will not be cheap lol. Kid is on pace for probably the most goals in a season for the franchise at this point.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Well, Atkinson just re-signed for 7 x $5.875 million at 28 years old after a 35 goal season, and three 20+ goal seasons preceding it.

Zucker is going to have a 21 goal season, a 10 goal, a 22 goal and whatever the hell he ends up with this year. If it's 20+, I'd say LT in the $4.5 - $5 range; 30+, around the same as Atkinson/Nino/Granlund, 40+, no idea.

 

[Wabit]

Well, Atkinson just re-signed for 7 x $5.875 million at 28 years old after a 35 goal season, and three 20+ goal seasons preceding it.

Zucker is going to have a 21 goal season, a 10 goal, a 22 goal and whatever the hell he ends up with this year. If it's 20+, I'd say LT in the $4.5 - $5 range; 30+, around the same as Atkinson/Nino/Granlund, 40+, no idea.

The middle number should be 13g (he had 10a that season). His 21g season put him at a 33g for 82 game pace, he missed 31 games that year. Not that the pace means much, he could have gone ice cold and not scored again. But if he puts up 30+ this year, it adds more ammo for him (well his agent) on his next contract.

Zucker has odd totals for career points: 75g, 49a. Most players have more assists than goals, or at least an even split.