The Arizona Coyotes have signed Jason Zucker to a one-year contract with a source telling ESPN the deal is worth $5.3 million.
Assessing what would happen with Zucker proved to be one of the more intriguing scenarios entering free agency. The expectation was that Zucker, who finished with 27 goals and 48 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins, could be in for a sizable payday with the caveat that a number of cap-strapped teams would not be able to afford his services.
Signing Zucker accomplishes a few items for the Coyotes. Landing the 31-year-old winger gives them a six-time 20-goal scorer whose 27-goal campaign was a contrast from the 18 goals he combined to score during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. He joins a forward group that has Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli among others.
Zucker also gives the Coyotes, who have more than $19.7 million in available cap space, a player they could potentially move at the NHL trade deadline should they elect to pursue that path.
With the Coyotes undergoing a rebuild, the need to attain draft capital and prospects has become paramount to their long-term success. Signing players who they feel could lead to a sizable return at the deadline is a strategy a number of rebuilding teams followed last year.
Among them were the Coyotes when they signed Nick Bjugstad before moving him to the Edmonton Oilers in a deal that saw them receive a 2023 third-round pick they used earlier this week to select Dinamo Minsk right winger Vadim Moroz. Bjugstad, who was a pending unrestricted free agent, signed a two-year deal to return to Arizona. While the Coyotes do not share financial terms, the deal was reported to be $2.1 million, according to PHNX Sports.
Like many of the Penguins' high-priced forwards, Zucker delivered offensively last season. Used in several different line combinations by coach Mike Sullivan, Zucker, 31, finished with 27 goals and 48 points. He averaged 15:39 time on the ice.
Last season was Zucker's fourth in Pittsburgh, after a trade from the Minnesota Wild during the 2019-20 season. After four seasons topping 20 goals with the Wild, last season was his first such effort as a Penguin.
All of that means that the veteran left wing had some marketing appeal this summer. The Newport Beach, California native just wrapped up a five-year contract that carried an average-annual value of $5.5 million, and it was expected he'd command at least a similar number in free agency.
At 5-foot-11, 192 pounds, Zucker is probably best suited for a second-line role and can occupy time on either the first or second unit of a club's power play. A second-round pick of the Wild in 2010, he went goalless in the final three games of last season, as the Penguins saw the Florida Panthers sneak away with the No. 8 seed in the East.