He hit at already at 33, in fact, I think that exceeds it. I don't love him...and I know for a fact that you won't either if these notes from 2017ish hold true for his time with us...
Jason Zucker (LW/RW) - Speedy but somewhat immature offensive winger. "Immature" is a reference to his general skill set and how he plays the game. He plays like an advanced junior player in a lot of ways. As a winger, his defensive responsibility is weaker, allowing him to fly the zone with his speed a little bit - which is fine in the right dosage. But he plays a light-on-his-toes, finesse offensive game and is still a half-beat away from being in the right spot at the right time. He compensates for this with terrific speed and a great burst. He makes a lot of "hope" passes and when they connect, they set up terrific scoring chances, but when they don't, they reflect poorly. Every player makes these passes, but Zucker makes a lot of low percentage plays. His shot is not overpowering enough to score from distance and, perhaps as a result, he tries to make one extra move sometimes that just leaves you scratching your head. He'll give up a forehand shot in the slot when he's coming with speed in exchange for pulling the puck to his backhand and trying to make a pass back through the seam to the far post - which, for a player of this skill set, is just a little too creative for his own good. He only has average hands...most of his one-on-one moves involve a shoulder or head fake and then going wide with speed. He has above average NHL tools, to be sure, but may not be a reliable, consistent weapon. He is not strong, nor does he have exceptional balance - this mitigates his game considerably in the high-rent areas of the rink. He has the speed to pop in and out of holes/soft areas, but he can be stymied with relative ease by even average sized players. Zucker is not physical nor is he a noteworthy defensive player.
Role: Second line, speed winger like Mason Raymond
Rask is a buyout candidate if he's under 26...if he's not still, then it's reclamation project. This would give us another big, ubiquitous center who doesn't play the game with much emotion or purpose...Jugs at least has a shot, I feel like I don't know who Victor Rask is anymore...he hurt his wrist or something and now it looks like he just doesn't want to play anymore, he's slow too...I don't know what our record is with rehabbing centers, but this is a project and he'll need a really potent offensive winger to have a chance to hop out of this deep, deep funk...
Two words: David Perron. Put up 28g once, came to Pittsburgh and put up 16 goals in 86 games. Production increase is not a given when coming to Pittsburgh.
Zucker is a 20g/45pt guy with one fluke good year. He gets a lot of ice time, including a lot of pp time, and he is still a 20g/45pt guy. His overall game is not far from Kessel's overall game, but he is not the offensive threat that Kessel is (scoring or play making). He is only $1.3M cheaper so that is not even a good thing.
Rask has a $4Mx3 contract for a "broken" 4th liner. He is actually a worse option than keeping Johnson.
Only a $550K cap savings for making the team considerably lesser.
This trade would be a strong 0-3 for Pittsburgh.
