The Minnesota Wild have signed winger Mats Zuccarello to a two-year contract extension with a cap hit of $4.125 million.
Zuccarello, 36, was in the final year of a five-year contract with a $6 million cap hit that he signed with the Wild in free agency in 2019. It was a deal that seemed questionable at first, especially coming from the Paul Fenton-era of the Wild, but Zuccarello has more than lived up to it, especially after establishing chemistry with superstar Kirill Kaprizov. Zuccarello’s closest cap hit comparable on his new deal is Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe.
Zuccarello is coming off back-to-back career years, although 2022-23 was a slight step back from 2021-22. In 78 regular-season games, he had 22 goals, 45 assists and 67 points, not as much as his 79-point season in 2021-22 but still besting any season total before that. He also had two goals, three assists and five points in six playoff games as the Wild were ousted in the first round by the Dallas Stars.
Zuccarello was originally an undrafted free agent, beginning his professional career playing hockey in his home country of Norway as well as Sweden before he was signed by the New York Rangers in 2010. He made his NHL debut the following season and spent nine seasons with the Rangers before he was dealt to the Dallas Stars at the 2019 trade deadline. After walking to unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, Zuccarello signed his current contract with the Wild.
The Wild enter the 2023-24 season in hopes of winning a playoff series for the first time since 2015, and possibly reaching the Conference Finals for the first time since 2003. They had a relatively quiet offseason due to the cap constraints they’ve had to deal with thanks to the buyout penalties of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, as their only notable free agent signing was Jujhar Khaira. They currently have just over $43,000 in cap space with no restricted free agents remaining.
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