Zucker is great at two things. Speed skating and shooting. There isn't much to the rest of the game. He's not a puck control, setup guy at all. He doesn't have the tools like puck-handling and vision, and he doesn't seem to think that way either. His offense is very one dimensional. He's a dangerous goal scorer on a rush. That's pretty much it.
Zucker is part of the Wild mold of incomplete offensive players. They either score goals or setup plays. They can't do both well, and that limits the team's offensive ability. Zucker is a nice piece to have on your team, but he's not an offensive catalyst.
Both in College and in Houston Zucker has been a 1:1 G:A producer. I believe that is how he will be for his NHL career.
He is not a Koivu/Granlund type of playmaker, but with his tenacity, puck possession skills (which he displays every game - not sure what you are watching), speed and shoot first mentality (should be plenty of rebounds), there is no reason why he will not be a 1:1 player (as opposed to a 1:2 type of player like Koivu).
There are a few reasons why his assists totals are so low this season:
1) Some key Wild goal scorers are not scoring DESPITE having plenty of opportunity. Both Vanek and Pominville are sitting at 1/2 the number of goals they should have. Their shooting percentage is also down by 1/2 - they get the opportunities, but they have been snake bitten for large stretches this season. These two guys playing close to where they are expected to play, gives Zucker at least 5 more assists.
2) Lack of power play time. Players that lead, or are within a goal or two of leading the team in scoring should be getting more PP time than Zucker gets. Just being on the PP for 30%-40% would increase his assist totals (also goals).
3) His speed allows him to score many goals where passing is not an option.
4) Excluding Parise, the Wild top 6 is made up of either snipers that are not sniping this seasons despite having the chances (Pom, Van) or play makers who are more effective setting up goals than scoring them (Koivu, Granlund). That leaves Zucker in the position of scoring a lot of goals, but not getting the assists he would get with a more balanced top-6.
edit 5) I forgot his constantly changing line mates. Tough to develop chemistry.
TL;DR; He is a goal scorer first, but his lack of assists is not because of poor vision or some type of difficulty making passes.
