Since coming to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2020, Jason Zucker has struggled immensely. He was a solid player on his former team, the Minnesota Wild. Because of this, management thought that he would do even better with the star-studded the Penguins have. Of course, this has not been the case. As the offseason is about to be in full-swing, many decisions have to be made. One of those decisions has to be about Zucker.
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Zucker was drafted in 59th overall in the 2010 draft by the Minnesota Wild. He popped in and out of their lineup until the 2015-2016 season when he became a NHL regular. After that point, he put up a minimum of 42 points per season. Zucker has also won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2019 for the charity he and his wife Carly started, Give 16.
On Feb. 10, 2020, Zucker was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade that made sense at the time. In exchange for Zucker, the Wild received a struggling Alex Galchenyuk, a defensive prospect in Calen Addison and a conditional draft pick that turned into Pittsburgh’s 2021 first-round draft pick.
To say the least, that trade is now incredibly lopsided. Zucker has been struggling on Pittsburgh’s lineup. He had a promising start after his acquisition, but has been incredibly disappointing this past season. Although he was able to produce a decent amount of offense, he wasn’t able to capitalize and score the goals that the Penguins desperately needed. Because he has been such a letdown, an important decision has to be made.
There are three options here: trade him, expose him or keep him. Trading Zucker away would yield at least some valuable assets. He can be a solid second line winger on most teams, so the return wouldn’t be bad. He would most certainly secure some draft picks and possibly an older rental player for a playoff run next season.
With the Seattle Kraken coming into the league, the Penguins could expose him for selection in the expansion draft. Of course, this doesn’t mean the Kraken will for sure select him. Something Pittsburgh could do to ensure Zucker’s selection is to give the Kraken a draft pick. One that would probably do the trick is Pittsburgh’s 2021 second round pick.
The last option the Penguins could do is keep Zucker. For all management knows, he could just be in a slump with his play right now. Zucker could snap out of it and become a contributing, valuable player. Of course, the fans would be less than pleased but there is always that chance that Zucker could prove a lot of people wrong.
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