Jason Zucker's Trade Market

The Minnesota Wild are trying whatever they can to move Jason Zucker out of town. During the trade deadline, they tried to trade him to the Calgary Flames, which fell through. Then they tried to trade him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Phil Kessel. That fell through because Kessel was not interested in joining a team that didn't have any possibility of competing this year. Now, it looks like another team has possibly stepped in to acquire his services.

Mike Halford, who works for The Athletic, reported on his radio station on TSN 1040 that that Vancouver Canucks are somehow interested in the Wild forward and that several trade proposals have already landed on the table.

Zucker, 27, is one of the last members of the Minnesota core that former GM Chuck Fletcher built during his time there. GM Paul Fenton is the new guy in charge there and he's already made plenty of moves, shipping out Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Charlie Coyle, hoping that new faces will try and change their outcome in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they didn't make the playoffs this season.

It's clear Fenton is trying to find a long-term approach to this problem and it looks like he's trying to rebuild. It makes sense too, considering all the money the core had brought in, including Zucker. Zucker still has four years and $5.5MM left on his contract, and it's a big cap hit for the Wild as they try to improve their team.

Vancouver's interest in Zucker may be more obvious than it seems. They have a bunch of young forwards who performed well this year and they have plenty of cap space to accommodate Zucker. I understand that he's a long way off from his magnificent 2017-18 season, when he produced 21 goals and 42 points. He is also one of the fastest skaters in the league, something that the young Vancouver forwards have done well in this year. Not just his speed or his value, but the Canucks also have a need on the left-side of their top-six line, which includes Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson.

Zucker is very much wanted in this league and any team would be lucky to get him. However, I do like the role that he would play in Vancouver. Not only would his skills and production be valuable, but he also does display some leadership. I would think that in Vancouver, that would be very valuable and although the Canucks would have to pay a premium amount to get him, I think he would serve very well there and he would be a valuable piece for their future.