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Value of: Jason Zucker

Lemieuxs

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Nov 23, 2013
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Jason Zucker plays both wings and has 1 year remaining on his contract (2022 season).
He has a cap hit of 5.5 million.
He was injured for half the season but when he played was playing hurt.
He scored 17 points in 41 games.
Sullivan loves the guy saying "He’s such a great teammate. I love him. He’s a competitive guy. He plays the game so hard - and he cares."
Quote Here

The Penguins might look to move on because he cannot seem to stay healthy.

What is his value? What would a team be willing to give up?
 
66-30-33 said:
Better off keeping him unless it’s for picks.
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That might be enough. If the Penguins attempt to re-sign Geno/Letang it will be for a chance to take a run at the cup during Sid's 3 years remaining. If they could clear the cap hit, picks might be enough.
 
Usually I hate the "send him to Arizona" posts, but this might actually be something I can see Arizona exploring this summer. He has one year left, so no one is locked into term with him, and Arizona could potentially flip him at the deadline for more. I'm not sure what the cost would be, whether there's any retention or not probably plays a key role. I could see anything from Pittsburgh paying Arizona to take him, to Arizona giving just a mid round pick or something.

If he gets healthy, he can help Arizona on the ice, he can help them reach the cap floor, and he can be flipped at the deadline with retained salary easily. Pittsburgh sheds his contract so they can try to re-sign the guys they want and maybe go after someone else.
 
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He's a tough guy to valuate right now. He's had a couple of down years and the last one was injury-riddled so it was tough to really judge how well he performed. The games he played since January were very good IMHO. He was playing the game the exact way we wanted him to and he was an animal in the playoffs. When you get that effort, I can relax my standards on what I expect out of a $5.5mil guy. That being said, that is what everyone is looking at and I would suggest a lot of Penguins fans have a bias against him whether its warranted or not (and honestly, some of it is but a lot recently has been historical whipping boy driven).

I don't know what the best scenario is to be honest. I think Zucker for a 2nd with no retention is probably fair. End of the day, he's still a top 6 winger and a 2nd would be fair value. I could even see the Penguins retaining a mil if needed. You could also change that to a 3rd+prospect, ideally a dman prospect.

I could also see a 1:1 swap for a guy that needs a change of scenery maybe like Donskoi.

I could also see a trade for a decent prospect straight up.

One thing I'd like to suggest is Zucker+POJ for Max Jones+Jacob Larsson. Woudl also consider Sam Steel but I don't know what the pecking order of some of the younger guys is. I picked Jones because of recent injury history and the swap of POJ and Larsson favoring the Ducks which would offset the value difference (if there is one) between Zucker and Jones.

Another would be Zucker to LA for Carl Grundstrom. Would also consider Brenden Lemieux.
 
Zucker for Donskoi?

Both have a year left and Pittsburgh saves 1.6M on the cap. Both had bad seasons by their own standards. Seattle gets someone who can hopefully help their scoring while Pittsburgh gets a decent bottom 6 depth piece.
 
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I think there's a deal to be made between Pittsburgh and San Jose depending on the circumstances. For one, I would like to add Zucker to the Sharks if it afforded us the opportunity to move Simek in the process. I could see Burns being alright with going to Pittsburgh as well if Letang walks. Plus the Sharks have either Adin Hill or James Reimer available to be a 1B to Jarry if things don't work out with DeSmith.
 
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The Penguins only need to trade a guy like Zucker (as well as a guy like Dumoulin) *IF* they plan on using the extra cap space to spend on other players.

Given the stance (at least publicly) that we've seen, is the new ownership group willing to spend to the cap given the players available to the Pens either on their current roster or the ones who will be available in this year's UFA crop? Or do they want to not make financial commitments because they want more cap flexibility for further down the road when other UFAs may be available, or the team is in a different position in their competitive window (because we have no idea if they want to rebuild or not).

In short, until we get some indication of what ownership wants to, as well as who is running the ship (will either or both of Burke & Hextall be the captains of the ship?), it's really hard to think about individual player decisions like Zucker, Dumoulin, as well as UFAs like Malkin/Letang/Rust/Rakell.
 
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Pinkfloyd said:
I think there's a deal to be made between Pittsburgh and San Jose depending on the circumstances. For one, I would like to add Zucker to the Sharks if it afforded us the opportunity to move Simek in the process. I could see Burns being alright with going to Pittsburgh as well if Letang walks. Plus the Sharks have either Adin Hill or James Reimer available to be a 1B to Jarry if things don't work out with DeSmith.
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If the Penguins were to move one of Pettersson or Marino out for a forward, I could maybe get on board with Zucker for Simek. That may have to be a larger trade though because Simek has several years remaining.

My general sense is that he's not exactly living up to his contract, yes?
 
SEALBound said:
If the Penguins were to move one of Pettersson or Marino out for a forward, I could maybe get on board with Zucker for Simek. That may have to be a larger trade though because Simek has several years remaining.

My general sense is that he's not exactly living up to his contract, yes?
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Simek has two years to go but I wouldn't be opposed to a bigger deal if it makes sense. Simek isn't living up to his contract but it's also a matter of the team having a lot of guys on the left side and it's a numbers game. When he's been in the lineup, he's typically fine as a bottom pairing guy but health is a concern too. Taking a bigger hit for one year to clear the space is probably a better bet for the Sharks. I do wonder what a bigger deal might look like with the Pens. If they're set on moving on from Letang, Burns or Karlsson could be options. I'm not sure if they're re-signing DeSmith and the Sharks need to move one of Hill or Reimer.

I hope the Sharks are active this offseason but it's hard to expect much given their GM vacancy.
 
Empoleon8771 said:
Likely negative value, the Penguins would gladly take nothing for him if it meant they could re-sign Rakell
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I have no issue with trading Zucker but please tell me who is going to take over for Rust and Zucker? Pens fans have told me for years not to build a team through free agency, which I agree, but now it’s okay to try to do that???

As it stands today, we dont have a top line winger and basically no second line if Zucker leaves.

Kap is a third line player; same with Heinen and Sully’s other boyfriends.
 
Pens x said:
I have no issue with trading Zucker but please tell me who is going to take over for Rust and Zucker? Pens fans have told me for years not to build a team through free agency, which I agree, but now it’s okay to try to do that???

As it stands today, we dont have a top line winger and basically no second line if Zucker leaves.

Kap is a third line player; same with Heinen and Sully’s other boyfriends.
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Rakell will take rust spot cheaper and Zucker is always hurt can find better healthy guys to give 5.5 million to.
 
SEALBound said:
He's a tough guy to valuate right now. He's had a couple of down years and the last one was injury-riddled so it was tough to really judge how well he performed. The games he played since January were very good IMHO. He was playing the game the exact way we wanted him to and he was an animal in the playoffs. When you get that effort, I can relax my standards on what I expect out of a $5.5mil guy. That being said, that is what everyone is looking at and I would suggest a lot of Penguins fans have a bias against him whether its warranted or not (and honestly, some of it is but a lot recently has been historical whipping boy driven).

I don't know what the best scenario is to be honest. I think Zucker for a 2nd with no retention is probably fair. End of the day, he's still a top 6 winger and a 2nd would be fair value. I could even see the Penguins retaining a mil if needed. You could also change that to a 3rd+prospect, ideally a dman prospect.

I could also see a 1:1 swap for a guy that needs a change of scenery maybe like Donskoi.

I could also see a trade for a decent prospect straight up.

One thing I'd like to suggest is Zucker+POJ for Max Jones+Jacob Larsson. Woudl also consider Sam Steel but I don't know what the pecking order of some of the younger guys is. I picked Jones because of recent injury history and the swap of POJ and Larsson favoring the Ducks which would offset the value difference (if there is one) between Zucker and Jones.

Another would be Zucker to LA for Carl Grundstrom. Would also consider Brenden Lemieux.
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nobody gives up a 2nd for him without retention given his recent production, injuries, and cap hit.

at no retention you are looking at a 7th+ Useless ELC contract
 
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Pens x said:
I have no issue with trading Zucker but please tell me who is going to take over for Rust and Zucker? Pens fans have told me for years not to build a team through free agency, which I agree, but now it’s okay to try to do that???

As it stands today, we dont have a top line winger and basically no second line if Zucker leaves.

Kap is a third line player; same with Heinen and Sully’s other boyfriends.
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The issue with Zucker isn't that he's not a good player, it's just that he makes too much for what he brings, and could block us from signing an external UFA or one of our existing UFAs.

If the Penguins could sign, for example, Burakovsky to a 5 x 5.5M deal, then 1 year of Zucker's contract would be getting in the way of us getting that player.

So this is why I say the Pens don't move Zucker unless they plan to target another, better player who they need his cap space for.

This may also be why the Pens won't move him unless or until they secure another player in UFA, as opposed to trade him before July 13th and just "hope" they get someone but end up missing out and having a whole in the roster.
 
Depending on what other assets are attached, this is the kind of deal I can see the ducks make this offseason. They were willing to take Dadanov - Zucker seems to fit a similar profile albeit Zucker's recent production/injuries are a real concern.
 
duckpuck said:
Depending on what other assets are attached, this is the kind of deal I can see the ducks make this offseason. They were willing to take Dadanov - Zucker seems to fit a similar profile albeit Zucker's recent production/injuries are a real concern.
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Would something like Zucker and a 2nd for Comtois be of interest, or are the Ducks still fully invested in him regaining form?
 
Dipsy Doodle said:
Would something like Zucker and a 2nd for Comtois be of interest, or are the Ducks still fully invested in him regaining form?
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To me, not at all. I think a 2nd is the minimum price of getting rid of Zucker's contract - no reason for the ducks to include a real asset going the other way. I still have hope for Comtois - certainly not ready to trade him for a salary dump. And if he is traded, my guess it will be for a similar young player who maybe needs a fresh start.

I could see Zucker and a 2nd for John Moore who Pittsburgh can bury or put on IR. Something like that might make sense.
 
duckpuck said:
To me, not at all. I think a 2nd is the minimum price of getting rid of Zucker's contract - no reason for the ducks to include a real asset going the other way. I still have hope for Comtois - certainly not ready to trade him for a salary dump. And if he is traded, my guess it will be for a similar young player who maybe needs a fresh start.

I could see Zucker and a 2nd for John Moore who Pittsburgh can bury or put on IR. Something like that might make sense.
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Understandable about Comtois given his age. I don't think it'll take a 2nd to move an impending UFA Zucker though. Realistically he's still a speedy 35-40 point character guy even if he doesn't regain form, and that has value even if he's overpaid for that role. Pens may even get a pick in return - look at what Dadonov yielded last summer after a brutal year.

I don't see any value for the Pens in John Moore. Would rather just get future considerations if it came down to that.
 
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AKL said:
Usually I hate the "send him to Arizona" posts, but this might actually be something I can see Arizona exploring this summer. He has one year left, so no one is locked into term with him, and Arizona could potentially flip him at the deadline for more. I'm not sure what the cost would be, whether there's any retention or not probably plays a key role. I could see anything from Pittsburgh paying Arizona to take him, to Arizona giving just a mid round pick or something.

If he gets healthy, he can help Arizona on the ice, he can help them reach the cap floor, and he can be flipped at the deadline with retained salary easily. Pittsburgh sheds his contract so they can try to re-sign the guys they want and maybe go after someone else.
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The only way Arizona would take him if you add draft pick(s)
 
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I'd say Zucker's value depends on how much the Penguins are retaining. If they're retaining $2 million or more, Zucker becomes a legitimately attractive asset, even with his injury history. Zucker's skillset for $3.5 million or less is a really good addition to a team's 3rd line, and I don't think the Penguins would even consider trading him if he only costed $3.5 million.

I'd say his value would be a 2nd if the Penguins are willing to retain $2 million or more, and his value would decrease from that based on how much the Penguins are willing to retain. At his full cap hit, I think his value would be almost nothing, and you could even potentially be getting into the negative value territory depending on how stressed for cap space other teams are.
 
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