Jason Zucker has signed a new contract with the Minnesota Wild.

All depends on wether or not he can maintain his production from last season

This is exactly where I expected him to be. if he continues to do what he did last year or get better this could be a very nice contract for MIN

Dude just does not have the history to support this beyond this past season. If he continues that kind of production it's an amazing deal, otherwise overpaid. Should've gone with a bridge deal. 4.5M for 2 years makes more sense plus gets him to UFA territory and a potentially even better contract if he excels. Seems like a player who doesn't have faith in himself to succeed. I get that it's great job security he has now but if he continued his production for another season or two he could easily be making 6.5M-7M per year. Especially if the cap continues to rise.

Dude is 26 years old with 3 NHL seasons played. The contract takes him to 31 year old, which is where you get a retirement contract for 6 year at an absurd aav (see Ladd, Eriksson, etc.). If he keeps up his pace he gets paid another time, but if not he can live happily without stress.

Money is fair, term is too long. Voted no, but am really more meh.

It's been 4 full seasons (with some injuries) and a couple where he shuttled back and forth between the AHL and NHL every time Yeo thought Zucker looked at him wrong. The rest of your comment makes sense but I just wanted to point out that he's not some late bloomer who barely has 3 years under his belt. He scored an OT GWG in the 2013 playoffs for us so he's been around a little while.

Zucker was fantastic last year but he did have 44 points the year before that so this is a good signing. Exact number is probably wrong but who cares.

Good deal IMO.
Nylander should get about the same.

Again, no surprise, if you compare to other with similar stats, age and whatever.

I hear the "whatever" component is the most important factor when comparing players....

Can't bridge a guy that would be a UFA

Look at the Wild...almost at the cap. And next year they have some RFA signings with just one UFA leaving, 3.5m Staal. An average at best Wild team, has cap restraints. Lots of average players making too much money

Meh 1 RFA that is (currently) looking like a low priced bridge deal and Staal re-signing is all the only real contracts that need to be taken care of. As long as JEE and Staal come in at less than a combined $8m they should be okay as long as the cap doesn't stagnate again.

The drag is Parise's contract, if he was earning his ~$7.5m salary the team would look a whole lot more dangerous.

I wouldn't say the Wild are a lock for the Playoffs by any means, but they could finish anywhere from 1st-last in the Division and I really wouldn't be surprised. Injuries really made the FWD groups look worse they than should have been last year.

Botterill in buffalo has got to like this contract as Reinhart was probable asking for more than 5.5m$AVA. especially after the Lindholm contract

I hear myself repeating same argument...

It is a pretty good deal. He's been a high volume shooter in his time in the NHL, and scores most of his goals 5 on 5. I wouldn't be too worried about him slipping back to a point where he isn't worth it, as long as they give him enough ice time.



Nylander will get quite a bit more in AAV. First off, he isn't likely signing a 5 year deal, so most likely it would cost more to buy additional years of UFA status. Also, he is going to be compared against guys who put up points at similar rates at a similar age. He compares pretty well to a group of forwards who ranged over $6M per year when the cap was lower. So I would say Nylander comes in at somewhere between $6.5-$7M depending on the term.

So any player that signs a long-term deal before he becomes a UFA doesn't have faith in himself to succeed? Some guys just want a sense of financial security.