Jason Zucker 59# overall 2010 by Minnesota Wild

[Up7Yours]

So what's your opinion on this guy?

5'11'' 174lb

The season following his draft he put up impressive
23G 22A 45P 40GP in Denver University

On the Wild board we voted him our 5# prospect, but he honestly could have easily been as high as 2#
2011 HF Wild Rankings:
1. Mikael Granlund
2. Charlie Coyle
3. Jonas Brodin
4. Marco Scandella
5. Jason Zucker

HF has him as 7.0C prospect, and me and some other Wild fans feel that is definitely underrating him. Maybe he gets overlooked for his draft position, size or NHL team. We have him pegged as a strong second liner, perhaps a very poor mans Parise.

Please comment!

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[thomast]

Zucker is very underrated. He can play at every situation, he can produce offensively. I think that zucker plays NHL soon but not next season.

 

[this providence]

After watching the good majority of Denver games last year, I'd really love to hear why exactly Zucker is at 7C while Bennett is somehow rated as a 8C prospect.

 

[Generic User]

After watching the good majority of Denver games last year, I'd really love to hear why exactly Zucker is at 7C while Bennett is somehow rated as a 8C prospect.

Because Beau is gonna have Sidney to center him, so his future automatically looks one point brighter. Zucker is a pinball that can score goals. He gon' be good.

 

[Made Dan]

I'm a fan of the guy. 2nd line upside IMO, if not he should be a good 3rd liner.

 

[wej20]

After watching the good majority of Denver games last year, I'd really love to hear why exactly Zucker is at 7C while Bennett is somehow rated as a 8C prospect.

Zucker might have adapted quicker to the college game quicker? Bennett's skills might give him more NHL upside?

I'd caution looking too much into stat production at the NCAA level.

There are lots of players who produce huge numbers that never amount much. There is also so others who produce under a point-per-game who end up good NHLers. It's about their development at the level more than their production. Nobody thinks Brian Gibbons is a better forward than Chris Kreider even though Gibbons outproduced Kreider in his first two seasons of college hockey.

As it stands now, Zucker projects more as a Steve Ott type forward, a really strong two-way forward who can chip in offensively and stir the pot. He can get into good scoring position (at the NCAA level at least) but I think a lot of his success this past season was due to playing on a very good line with Drew Shore. They were able to simply outwork most opposing teams the majority of the time.

Bennett though is a much more creative forward. Instead of chipping the puck into the offensive zone he could carry it in, create space for a linemate, and dish the puck off to score a goal. He can play almost every position on the powerplay including the center point of the umbrella. He's just far more dynamic of a forward and his offensive sense for the game is superior. He's not as polished of a two-way player as Zucker (Zucker was considered to be one of the best two-way forwards in the 2010 draft), nor was he as well conditioned last year. I'd expect the gap to narrow quite considerably this coming season.

Ian Altenbaugh gave his take on this in the Pens top 20 thread.

 

[this providence]

After that write-up I'm pretty confident he didn't watch a lot of Denver games. We already found out the Wild's HF "writer" didn't either.

 

[R S]

Really like him. Great in both ends of his rink. Great skater and underrated like crazy.

 

[wej20]

After that write-up I'm pretty confident he didn't watch a lot of Denver games. We already found out the Wild's HF "writer" didn't either.

Have to ask him. Even if Zucker did look better than Bennett as a freshman does necessarily mean he should be ranked higher though.

 

[this providence]

Even if Zucker did look better than Bennett as a freshman does necessarily mean he should be ranked higher though.

That's fine if you were to believe that. Each "writer" is going to have their slant to their own pool (except the Wild's "writer" that is, apparently). However, there's no way that the gap between those two prospects is that significant. And that is a significant gap given HF's grading system. Bennett has shown nothing to be worthy of that type of grade at this stage of his development.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I like him a alot. Great skater, some solid skills, and has an edge to his game. He has very good chemistry with Coyle as well, which is nice for the Wild.

 

[wej20]

That's fine if you were to believe that. Each "writer" is going to have their slant to their own pool (except the Wild's "writer" that is, apparently). However, there's no way that the gap between those two prospects is that significant. And that is a significant gap given HF's grading system. Bennett has shown nothing to be worthy of that type of grade at this stage of his development.

If anything Bennett should be an 8D as he's pretty much top 6 or bust whereas Zucker could maybe be a B because he could play in a bottom 6 role. Zucker did play with the better centreman though and came from the NTDP where they do play some games against college teams.

 

[this providence]

If anything Bennett should be an 8D as he's pretty much top 6 or bust whereas Zucker could maybe be a B because he could play in a bottom 6 role. Zucker did play with the better centreman though and came from the NTDP where they do play some games against college teams.

No, Bennett shouldn't be an 8 at all because he's just not that great of a prospect. No idea how your "writer" figures he's the best of that pool when there's already two better options but that's another story.

Zucker played with the better center, on the better line, because he's the better player; and prospect. Anyone who was watching Denver last season could tell you as much. Shore's a strong prospect as well but the notion that Jason Zucker had the season he did was solely based on his linemates is out to lunch.

 

[Up7Yours]

So Zucker scored his 20 more points ''the wrong way''
And why exactly Zucker two-way-play a difference maker, when Bennetts creativity is...

 

[wej20]

No, Bennett shouldn't be an 8 at all because he's just not that great of a prospect. No idea how your "writer" figures he's the best of that pool when there's already two better options but that's another story.

Zucker played with the better center, on the better line, because he's the better player; and prospect. Anyone who was watching Denver last season could tell you as much. Shore's a strong prospect as well but the notion that Jason Zucker had the season he did was solely based on his linemates is out to lunch.

I didn't imply that Zucker was a product of his centreman but he played with Shore Snr while Bennett played with Shore Jnr who was another freshman. With prospects it's a good idea to take a long term view, freshman college season don't make a break prospects. Brian Gibbons (Pens prospect) put up more points in his freshman season than Chris Kreider did in any of his college seasons so far.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

No, Bennett shouldn't be an 8 at all because he's just not that great of a prospect. No idea how your "writer" figures he's the best of that pool when there's already two better options but that's another story.

Zucker played with the better center, on the better line, because he's the better player; and prospect. Anyone who was watching Denver last season could tell you as much. Shore's a strong prospect as well but the notion that Jason Zucker had the season he did was solely based on his linemates is out to lunch.

The fact is that quick adaptability to the college game isn't the #1 option to consider when evaluating a prospect. If it were, Chris Kreider certainly wouldn't be as highly regarded as he is.

 

[this providence]

Nowhere in any of my posts did I say anything about points or comparing these two players by what they did on the score sheet. I did, however, say that Zucker is the better player. The opportunities and ice time in all situations over Bennett from one of the best coaches in college hockey show that. You can project Bennett forward all you want but at the end of the day nothing in his game has shown he's the more talented player on the ice. Nor does he make a bigger impact in any phase of the game (5-5, PP, PK, defensively). Go ahead and project for future development if you wish, just make sure to do the same for Zucker as he's got every bit of skill in his game as Bennett to go along with grit, leadership qualities, and two way play.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Nowhere in any of my posts did I say anything about points or comparing these two players by what they did on the score sheet.

Neither did I.

I did, however, say that Zucker is the better player. The opportunities and ice time in all situations over Bennett from one of the best coaches in college hockey show that. You can project Bennett forward all you want but at the end of the day nothing in his game has shown he's the more talented player on the ice. Nor does he make a bigger impact in any phase of the game (5-5, PP, PK, defensively). Go ahead and project for future development if you wish, just make sure to do the same for Zucker as he's got every bit of skill in his game as Bennett to go along with grit, leadership qualities, and two way play.

Clearly, there's some discrepancy here.

Growing up in roller hockey and playing BCHL gave Bennett the opportunity to develop his skill and creativity, but his strength, conditioning, and quality of competition made the transition to the NCAA predictably more difficult than it would be for Zucker.

We'll see how they pan out. At this point, I don't think many GMs would consider Zucker the more valuable pro prospect.

 

[this providence]

Neither did I.

Was referring to the previous poster.

Growing up in roller hockey and playing BCHL gave Bennett the opportunity to develop his skill and creativity, but his strength, conditioning, and quality of competition made the transition to the NCAA predictably more difficult than it would be for Zucker.

Zucker was a roller hockey player as well before joining the USNTDP. So not a dissimilar situation. Both have limited hockey experience yet Zucker is much further along. Not to mention he will be on his 3rd World Junior team that he will be captaining this season.

We'll see how they pan out. At this point, I don't think many GMs would consider Zucker the more valuable pro prospect.

I guess we will. USA hockey sure thinks he's more valuable. And I guess those who are Denver fans or watch enough WCHA hockey likely do.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

I guess we will. USA hockey sure thinks he's more valuable.

Well there's really nothing at all concrete though to back that particular aspect up when comparing the two. Bennett's injury his first year on the radar put him out of any consideration to make the team, and he's barely too old to play this year.

I agree though in that the ratings are slightly off as of now.

 

[wej20]

Was referring to the previous poster.



Zucker was a roller hockey player as well before joining the USNTDP. So not a dissimilar situation. Both have limited hockey experience yet Zucker is much further along. Not to mention he will be on his 3rd World Junior team that he will be captaining this season.



I guess we will. USA hockey sure thinks he's more valuable. And I guess those who are Denver fans or watch enough WCHA hockey likely do.

I'd say USNTDP provides more experience than the BCHL.

 

[Zero Pucks]

Getting a bit overworked over some HF ranking are we? I'm not surprised.

Apparently there is noway what-so-ever that a stronger, better conditioned, more acclimated, healthy Bennet can't have just as good of a Sophomore season, or better yet, never be a better prospect than Zucker. Only because he had a better Freshman season. I forgot everyone's learning and developing ended right there.

Bennet had a pretty large learning curve and had to deal with a few hurdles last season. I'm sure he'll be a much better player next season as long as he's healthy.

 

[squidz*]

Okay, just so I'm following this thread right:

Bennet is better than Zucker because he's older, played on a weaker line (because the coach thought Zucker was better) and put up fewer points.

Does anyone have an actual legitimate reason for ranking him ahead? I mean, you're free to think one will be better than the other, but can you at least come up with a half-assed excuse as to why?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I looked into this a while back, but don't have the "research" in front of me at the moment. What I found out, is that Zucker's freshman season production in the WCHA put him into very good and exclusive company; joining the likes of Parise and Stastny. He was ahead of great players to come out of the WCHA such as Toews, Okposo and Stepan. There were a few others, but I'm doing this off of memory and can't quite remember at the moment.

Point is, I think he will be a great NHL player and his a bright future with the Wild. I see him as a very good 2nd line winger, or a 3rd line winger on one of the best 3rd lines in the NHL.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

I looked into this a while back, but don't have the "research" in front of me at the moment. What I found out, is that Zucker's freshman season production in the WCHA put him into very good and exclusive company; joining the likes of Parise and Stastny. He was ahead of great players to come out of the WCHA such as Toews, Okposo and Stepan. There were a few others, but I'm doing this off of memory and can't quite remember at the moment.

Point is, I think he will be a great NHL player and his a bright future with the Wild. I see him as a very good 2nd line winger, or a 3rd line winger on one of the best 3rd lines in the NHL.

which is a 7.0 by Hockey's Future ranking guide.