The Pittsburgh Penguins 2022-23 campaign can’t be considered anything outside of disappointing. On the flipside, Jason Zucker’s individual performance might be more accurately described as a renaissance. The veteran winger bounced back from a couple lacklustre seasons with the penguins to score 27 goals and 48 points over 78 regular season contests. Oddly enough the most important figure from that stat line is the number of games played as Zucker has struggled to provide consistent availability over his Penguins tenure. Zucker laced up in 38 out of 56 possible games in 2020-21, and in 2021-22 that amount only rises to 41 games over the usual 82 game schedule. It’s clear that when the 31-year-old can avoid the injury bug, he’s a capable top-9 forward.

Zucker is a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) after concluding a 5 year deal that carried a $5.5 million cap-hit, a contract originally signed with the Minnesota Wild. While Zucker is coming off a bounce-back season the expectation is that his upcoming deal won’t as rich as his last. Although Zucker can point to a number of his counterparts who produced similarly as part of his pitch to teams including Craig Smith ( $3.1 million x 3 years in 2020) and Erik Haula ( $3.15 million x 3 years in 2023). Contract terms offering $3 million to $4 million annually over 2 to 4 years should satiate Zucker and whichever suitor acquires his services.

New York Islanders

General manager Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders freed $5 million on their cap sheet just yesterday by attaching a 2026 second round pick to forward Josh Bailey and sending him to the Chicago Blackhawks who promptly bought him out. That tidy piece of business leaves Lamoriello with $10 million in cap space, while needing to re-sign pending UFAs like defenseman Scott Mayfield and goaltender Semyon Varlamov. If all goes to plan, the Islanders might have just enough space to entice Zucker to join there veteran laden squad.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning’s current top priority is to re-sign winger Alex Killorn, as evident by them dealing center Ross Colton to the Colorado Avalanche. However, it’s fair to assume general manager Julien Brisebois has a contingency plan in place should Killorn test free agency. It would be a reach to equate Zucker’s value to Killorn, but might the Lightning be better suited dividing their cap resources among several lesser players in attempt to replace Killorn? It’s worth contemplating at very least.

Ottawa Senators

Pending restricted free agent (RFA) winger Alex DeBrincat is expected to be moved by the Senators this offseason after informing general manager Pierre Dorion that he won’t sign a long term deal with the club. When that trade materializes, Dorion will likely turn to the UFA market to bolster Ottawa’s offensive depth. Under the new ownership group led by Michael Andlauer, there’s potential for the Senators to be a cap team for the first time in a while, might some of that money be well spent on a versatile forward who can move up and down the lineup like Zucker?

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