Player Discussion Jason Zucker

[BagHead]

You're being facetious

But get a nice boat and take it out on Lake Minnetonka or the St Croix next summer

Tell me you don't score more than the Wild do from June through August

I actually laughed out loud at this one.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Seems very not reactionary.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Funny thing is, if he has a January more like his October/November, the first reactions will be "his value is up, trade him!", and not "hey, we might have a good player again!".

 

[Wabit]

Funny thing is, if he has a January more like his October/November, the first reactions will be "his value is up, trade him!", and not "hey, we might have a good player again!".

Meh, he's still the same player; just on a hot streak and not a cold streak.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Meh, he's still the same player; just on a hot streak and not a cold streak.

So what you're saying is that he had a 14 month (2 season + 2 month) "hot streak" but 1 cold month has killed everything?

His positive sample size over the last 2+ years is a lot bigger than the negative one.

 

[Bazeek]

I can't speak for others but my interest in trading Zucker has always been because I think he's a valuable player that we've got internal replacements for, not because I want him gone. If Nino had put up 30+30 last year while Zucker struggled to come back from an injury I'd probably prefer to trade the former and keep the latter. There's no way we're going to keep everyone around indefinitely, though.

 

[Wabit]

So what you're saying is that he had a 14 month (2 season + 2 month) "hot streak" but 1 cold month has killed everything?

No he was the same way last year: 1g in 10 games, then 8g in 5 games, followed by 4g in 26 games, and then 7g in 9 games. Oh and he's not getting the ENGs this year to bloat his stats.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

No he was the same way last year: 1g in 10 games, then 8g in 5 games, followed by 4g in 26 games, and then 7g in 9 games. Oh and he's not getting the ENGs this year to bloat his stats.

Yeah, he's streaky. You ride out the bad because you know that the good is coming and it's probably going to win you a game or two.

You know who usually isn't streaky? 40+ goal scorers. You know who isn't getting paid to score 40+ goals? Zucker.

The playoff criticism is legit, as it is for a lot of our guys, but I'm still sort of wondering what the standard being held here is.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I can't speak for others but my interest in trading Zucker has always been because I think he's a valuable player that we've got internal replacements for, not because I want him gone. If Nino had put up 30+30 last year while Zucker struggled to come back from an injury I'd probably prefer to trade the former and keep the latter. There's no way we're going to keep everyone around indefinitely, though.

Fair, but as it stands now, we're fairly tapped out of our internal replacements, and our next one isn't coming until 2020.

 

[Bazeek]

Fair, but as it stands now, we're fairly tapped out of our internal replacements, and our next one isn't coming until 2020.

I kind of agree, actually. Moving Ek down has the top-9 making a lot more sense overall: three centers (Koivu, Staal, Coyle) and six wingers (Parise, Granlund, Zucker, Nino, Greenway and Kunin). I still think a trade before next season is inevitable and that LW is the easiest position to trade from, but the roster feels less discombobulated.

 

[Wabit]

Yeah, he's streaky. You ride out the bad because you know that the good is coming and it's probably going to win you a game or two.

You know who usually isn't streaky? 40+ goal scorers. You know who isn't getting paid to score 40+ goals? Zucker.

The playoff criticism is legit, as it is for a lot of our guys, but I'm still sort of wondering what the standard being held here is.

I don't like his contract and think it's a bad investment for the team. 55p seasons is what I expect from him as a scoring winger with his contract (100k per point).

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I don't like his contract and think it's a bad investment for the team. 55p seasons is what I expect from him as a scoring winger with his contract (100k per point).

55 point players score roughly 9 points per month. Ok, he had a month with 4. Sucks, but it happens. Before that, he was pretty much right on track. It just seems fickle to me that 1 month overrules the previous 2, let alone adding 2 seasons to it.

 

[Wabit]

55 point players score roughly 9 points per month. Ok, he had a month with 4. Sucks, but it happens. Before that, he was pretty much right on track. It just seems fickle to me that 1 month overrules the previous 2, let alone adding 2 seasons to it.

He's topped 50p once in his career. It wasn't just a bad month. He had 3g/4a in 13 games (44p pace) in Nov too. This is 27 game stretch now where he's had 6g/5a (33p pace). He's had nice little 9 game run of a 4g/5a (PPG pace) in Oct, and that's the only thing making his stats look decent this year. We're almost halfway through the season and he's on a 42p pace.

He's a 1 trick pony; which is fine if that trick is an elite shot; but speed is all he has.

 

[P10p]

Lets not forget he is playing through an injury as well. Something has to give on that front eventually I would imagine.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He's topped 50p once in his career. It wasn't just a bad month. He had 3g/4a in 13 games (44p pace) in Nov too. This is 27 game stretch now where he's had 6g/5a (33p pace). He's had nice little 9 game run of a 4g/5a (PPG pace) in Oct, and that's the only thing making his stats look decent this year. We're almost halfway through the season and he's on a 42p pace.

He's a 1 trick pony; which is fine if that trick is an elite shot; but speed is all he has.

So you expect 2 points every 3 games, like clockwork?

 

[Wabit]

So you expect 2 points every 3 games, like clockwork?

I expect him to be better than he has been for his contract he just signed. He's not a $2m/yr player that can just show up for ~10 games and then disappear anymore. I expect him not to shank shots at open nets. I expect him to be useful to the team even if he isn't scoring. He doesn't PK, he's lost on the PP, and has been invisible 5v5. I expect him to be show up for the Playoffs (not a this year argument, yet?).

The only time Zucker is really useful in on the counter attack where he can score on his 1 of 4 breakaway chances. He and Staal both like to cheat out of the d-zone so teams are just keeping d-men back to counter that transition game.

People on here said Pommer in his last year here was overpayed by ~$2m for his 47p season. Zucker is only making $1ook less than that.

 

[TaLoN]

55 point players score roughly 9 points per month. Ok, he had a month with 4. Sucks, but it happens. Before that, he was pretty much right on track. It just seems fickle to me that 1 month overrules the previous 2, let alone adding 2 seasons to it.

I wanted to trade him this past offseason. I've always seen him as a one trick pony that would out price his on ice value and he has reached that point IMO. You can't keep everyone... never can, but you have to recognize who brings on ice value and who has limited on ice value and try to maximize those values to the team.

Sometimes that means moving a NHL player for a mysterybox in hopes of getting something better... sometimes it means moving that player for prospects, or even other players that have better tools that match the team's needs.

We're not a team loaded up like Washington that can fit in a limited player because we have so many others with full sets of tools to work with. We have a full toolbox of very limited tools. That's not going to accomplish much of anything.

Need to move out some of the limited players for the long term health of this team's future. Zucker is one of THE most limited IMO, and that's why I've wanted to move him once he maximized his possible trade value.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Zucker so hype.