Article: Mats Zuccarello's Old Guy Magic Might Not Slow Down Soon

[Tony Abbott]

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[MNCountryLife]

Zuc = The Anti-Billy Guerin.

[Pewterschmidt]

Zuccy has been fading quite a bit the last few years.  When he’s not with 97 he becomes a total non-factor.  I think this is the year that Father Time catches him for good and he becomes useful as a PP specialist only

 #happy Monday

[Citizen Strife]

People keep expecting (hoping and wanting even?) Zuccarello and Spurgeon to fail so they can stop "blocking" younger guys". Fact is it took a puck to the nuts to stop Zucc last year.  They still ended up top 5-7 producers for the team that can't buy offense.

Edited 17 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[mnfaninnc]

Quote

As Mats Zuccarello has pushed later and later into his 30s, I've been wondering when the moment Father Time claims his victory over the seemingly ageless Norwegian wonder. It's gotta happen sometime, right?!

This was all I needed to read. The rest of the article will be with supporting statistics. 

I disagree wholeheartedly. What we have here is a PP specialist, and a guy who has already lost that step. He's still and excellent playmaker, but he's no where near a line driver. His 1st and only move into the zone is the button hook. 

Now, I'll admit he's got some radar to find Kaprizov, but there is also some pretty blatant turnovers. I cannot knock the player for effort, I've seen his effort, it's good, but the physical attributes have declined. As for TOI, he's a 4th liner. As for skill, he's a top 6 player. I think with Zuccy, less is more, and while playing in the top 6 for linemates, we should be limiting the TOI to more around 14 minutes a night based upon PP time. 

On to another conversation since I've been in and out most of the summer....mostly out, where are ODC and Protec? 

[Citizen Strife]

Also, if Zucc falters or Yurov or Tarasenko perform better, Zucc's contract is done after this season.  He and the team aren't locked into anything.

[Dean]

Yep they produced. They produced another first round exit. To old and small to win against the big boys.  

[Citizen Strife]

23 minutes ago, Dean said:

Yep they produced. They produced another first round exit. To old and small to win against the big boys.  

This team was 20 seconds away from missing the playoffs entirely.  You still have to produce to even get there first.  I'll value someone getting that done in the he regular season, cause the team has enough people who didn't.

[SkolWild73]

Nice article Tony.   Hoping he has at least one more good year in him.  I know some feel that he has lost it and is only suited for the power play, but, offensively anyway, he is still producing decent enough at even strength.  Below are his last 5 seasons even strength points per 60 and his team rank of players that played at least half the season, followed by his points per game played and rank of players playing at least half the season.

2020/21: 2.892, 2nd             .833, 2nd

2021/22: 2.835, 4th             1.129 2nd

2022/23: 1.792, 5th             .859, 2nd

2023/24: 1.759, 6th             .913, 3rd

2024/25: 2.025, 4th             .783, 3rd

His even strength points per 60 was higher last year than players such as Alex DeBrincat, Nazeem Kadri, Dylan Larkin and Dylan Guenther

Edited 16 hours ago by SkolWild73

[Pewterschmidt]

58 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

People keep expecting

They are 37/38 years old ffs.  It’s just mathematics

[Willy the poor boy]

[Dango]

7 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

They are 37/38 years old ffs.  It’s just mathematics

I think smaller players have less wear and tear and might be worth 4-5 years  of extended longevity .

[Sam]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

where are ODC and Protec? 

I thought you were like the godfather of this here website. ODC has taken a “leave of absence” and Protec was banned for being the racist,  misogynistic bigot that he is. 
 

p.s. he might be operating under the name “NoJoSux” but don’t tell anyone cuz it might be a secret.

[ArizonaWildFan]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

where are ODC and Protec?

I think one is in Moscow and the other in Austria.

[1Brotherbill]

Let's say he plays about equal to what he has played in the past few years.  This would be his last year in Minnesota. I seriously doubt he makes it past the trade deadline.  Right now he would be slotted for the third line.  I know people will say he plays top six.  I don't think you can say he will be better than Ohgren and Yurov.  If they keep Rossi that means the third line would be Rossi with Zucarello, not an impressive line.  Though I think they could out work a lot of third lines in the league and probably score quite a bit.  Right now with Ohgren and Yurov playing well you have, Ek, Kirill, Boldy, and Taresenko in the top six.  

Zucarello has said this is probably his last year.  He doesn't want to hang around past his effective use date. 

[Mateo3xm]

“The lizard of Oslo” 🤣😆😂

[Mateo3xm]

2 hours ago, Sam said:

I thought you were like the godfather of this here website. ODC has taken a “leave of absence” and Protec was banned for being the racist,  misogynistic bigot that he is. 
 

p.s. he might be operating under the name “NoJoSux” but don’t tell anyone cuz it might be a secret.

What did Protec say? The word racist doesn’t really have any meaning anymore with how often it’s used. 

[Sam]

16 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

What did Protec say? The word racist doesn’t really have any meaning anymore with how often it’s used. 

Maybe it was sexist? Idk, either way it was gritty and not pretty. 

[Enforceror]

14 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

What did Protec say? The word racist doesn’t really have any meaning anymore with how often it’s used. 

The only thing I've ever heard him say is about NA players vs Euros. Not sure what that counts against but guess I might have missed something.

[mnfaninnc]

14 hours ago, Sam said:

I thought you were like the godfather of this here website. ODC has taken a “leave of absence” and Protec was banned for being the racist,  misogynistic bigot that he is. 

Well, as I said, I've been in and out this summer, traveling and dealing with health issues. I did see an RIP ODC comment earlier, and haven't seen Protec's or some form of that handle in quite awhile and wondered what happened?

I know Protec's gotten in trouble before, but outside of the rabbit hole I went down earlier on vaccines, I didn't think we had any political or controversial topics come through. So, I figured I completely whiffed on anything that happened. 

I'm not sure how a banning takes place, but it seems like whatever evidence there was simply gets swept under a rug and disappears through a virtual trap door. If you weren't there at the time, you missed it for good. 

[Pewterschmidt]

12 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

What did Protec say? The word racist doesn’t really have any meaning anymore with how often it’s used. 

I also missed Protec's flame out.  The post must have been taken down quickly or happened on a weekend, as I refresh this page every 5 minutes during the work week.  Hope he comes back as another name (ie Koho Revolution) b/c my guy has a great hockey mind.

I'll guess ODC just takes the summer off and is back when season starts.  Another great hockey mind with lots of opinions which is what makes the site fun.

[Scalptrash]

Good or bad, Billy will give him another sunset contract. He will continue to take a roster spot until he decides to retire. I have 100% confidence that Ohgren could easily outperform him if he was given the same role and minutes.

[mnfaninnc]

11 hours ago, Enforceror said:

The only thing I've ever heard him say is about NA players vs Euros. Not sure what that counts against but guess I might have missed something.

There have been several times when a writer decides to write an opinion piece that has a left wing bias slant. I don't mean this derogatorily, it's just a description as most would think I have a right wing bias slant. 

During these times, Protec has come out with his guns blazing in contrast to the authors of the piece. It can get pretty hot. From the commenter's perspective, if you're going to write a piece like that, you should expect heavy opposition (written from either bias). As a community, we still have things we just can't write about and keep the writing sane and respectful. Sometimes, our writers get really fired up about an issue which crosses the line into a hockey related thing. The piece comes out and the comments fly around with a bunch of name calling. 

When this site was part of Vox, occasionally, one of the writers would author an article like this and then seal the comments section. All that did was poison the next or previous article to have the discussion and meltdowns. 

Personally, on these topics, I find it eye opening to get everyone's perspectives. On some things, I find it odd that so many have a different opinion or value system than mine and I do not generally find that within my circles. Often times things are brought up which I've never considered and do not have an answer for. But it does make me think. If we could keep it civil, I think the conversations can be fruitful, but the risk of it going south is far too much for the site to take.

[mnfaninnc]

12 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

(ie Koho Revolution)

Wouldn't Protec be perfect for Jofa equipment?

[mnfaninnc]

3 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

Good or bad, Billy will give him another sunset contract. He will continue to take a roster spot until he decides to retire. I have 100% confidence that Ohgren could easily outperform him if he was given the same role and minutes.

Assuming this is correct, what would a Zuccy $800k contract look like playing in a role like what we assume Johansson will be given this year? 13th forward.

That could be some really good depth, but also the time off would keep him fresh.