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Penguins to Acquire Wild’s Jason Zucker… Again?

Could the Minnesota Wild be looking to trade Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins? Or, is this just the Penguins kicking tires again?

by
NHL Trade Talk
December 20, 2019

If you’ve been watching either the Jason Zucker situation out of Minnesota or the Minnesota Wild as a hockey team, to hear rumors that include Zucker in trade talks should not come as a surprise. He’s out there in the rumor mill again.

This time, it’s Josh Yohe of The Athletic who brings his name up and has connected the dots, once again to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Last trade deadline, Zucker was almost traded to the Calgary Flames but a deal fell apart in the final hours. This past offseason, there was interest in the Penguins trying to acquire Zucker in exchange for Phil Kessel before Kessel nixed the deal and wound up being traded to Arizona. Apparently, the Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is interested in acquiring Zucker again.

Along with Tyler Toffoili, Yohe names Zucker as a realistic trade option for the Penguins ahead of this season’s trade deadline. He says the Penguins are actively looking for a top-six winger and have never forgotten about Zucker.

Here’s another look at my mailbag from yesterday. We talk upcoming potential trades involving the Penguins, the goaltending situation and Christmas movies. Read it all here: https://t.co/BEC4D1fs74
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) December 20, 2019

Yohe writes:

Toffoli would be intriguing to any team that’s a contender. I suspect the Penguins would like to add one more forward before the deadline, preferably of the top-six variety. So these are names to keep in mind.
source – ‘Yohe mailbag: On future trades, the goalie situation and the holidays’ Johs Yohe – The Athletic – 12/19/2019

With the Wild just outside the playoff picture, it’s not realistic to believe they’d trade Zucker until they had a better idea of where the sit in terms of their playoff hopes. Zucker is also firmly locked into a long-term contract at $5.5 million per season for three more seasons after this one.

If this trade did happen, it wouldn’t be a small one.

Next: Trouble Brewing in Tampa Bay With Nikita Kucherov?