When the Minnesota Wild were in need of wins midway through the 2017018 season, the club got a boost from Jason Zucker who was a streaky scorer for Minnesota.
This week, Zucker signed a five-year deal with the Wild at an annual cap hit of $5.5 million.
“I’m excited for what I feel is an elevated role and what I feel is a bigger role on the team,” Zucker said. “I’m not satisfied with what I did last year. I am excited to keep working this summer and get back at it.”
Zucker hit a career high with 33 goals and added 31 assists for 64 points.
“When we look at the League now, we look at the speed that has started to dominate our game,” Minnesota general manager Paul Fenton said. “He generates so many chances based off of his speed and his skill level. It’s really hard to find natural goal-scorers, and he’s had a history of being able to score goals. For us, that was [the] most important ingredient that we were looking to solidified here, and that’s why it made sense for us to sign him to a long-term deal.”
At one point during the season, Zucker scored six straight goals for the Wild over three games, just shy of the NHL record.
For Zucker, 26, working on his offense is the focus.
“The more I continue to work on that and get better at that, the better off I am going to be and the more I am going to be able to produce at a more consistent level,” Zucker said. “… I know that I have the talent, the ability and the skill, the grit and all of that stuff to play in this league at a high level, it’s just whether it’s consistently every night.”
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