By Tony Abbott -
I'm done. 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?!
Nope. Or at least, not last year. Zuccarello turned 37 last September, and while many of his fellow NHL Old Guys have been bounced from the league entirely by that age, "The Lizard of Oslo" stayed productive. Through 69 games last season, he scored 19 goals (tied for the fourth-most of his career) and 54 points (his seventh-most). Sure, he missed 13 games, but that injury was... let's say "atypical."
You can't even credit Kirill Kaprizov for keeping him afloat last year, either. Not really. Zuccarello played only 44% of his power play minutes with Kaprizov, as well as less than a third of his 5-on-5 minutes. During his 40 games played without his usual running mate in the lineup, Zuccarello still mustered 10 goals and 27 points.
Is the shoe gonna drop at age-38? I'm tired of forecasting it. Until proven otherwise, I've got to give Zuccarello the benefit of the doubt. Over the past half-decade, he's had as much staying power as almost any Old Guy we've seen during the Post-Lockout Era.
Over the last 20 years, we've seen 68 forwards log 300 or more games between ages-33 and 37. Here's how the top-10 stacks up in terms of points per game:
- Sidney Crosby, 1.15
- Daniel Alfredsson, 1.14
- Martin St. Louis, 1.10
- Alex Ovechkin, 1.06
- Patrice Bergeron, 0.92
- MATS ZUCCARELLO, 0.91
- Ray Whitney, 0.92
- Anze Kopitar, 0.86
- Joe Thornton, 0.85
- Patrik Elias/Jarome Iginla, 0.83
That's an absurd list to be on. Crosby, St. Louis, Ovechkin, Bergeron, Kopitar, Thornton, and Iginla are all either already in the Hall of Fame or locks to get there. Alfredsson and Elias are also borderline Hall guys. And here's Zuccarello, producing much bigger numbers in his mid-30s than he ever had before.
There isn't much reason to think he can't do it again, except "Old." Zuccarello may continue to play most of his even-strength minutes without Kaprizov. With Matt Boldy, Vladimir Tarasenko, and even Danila Yurov in the mix next season, the Wild's superstar won't lack for options on the wing. Even so, his spot on Minnesota's top power play unit is almost assured, and his ability to not just distribute, but find Kaprizov, specifically, with space, is likely to help keep his numbers up.
His work on the man advantage is a safety net, but let's not forget that he also showed significant chops when it came to driving offense at 5-on-5 last season. Zuccarello was one of just seven Wild forwards to have an on-ice goals-for percentage above 50% (51.3%), and Minnesota scored 2.62 goals per hour with Zuccarello on the ice at 5-on-5 last year. The only players to see better results were Kaprizov (3.18 per hour) and Marco Rossi (2.77).
Minnesota's added depth is another reason for optimism. The Wild acquired Tarasenko, which could mean that John Hynes won't feel like he has to load up his top line with Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek. That'd be a perfect scenario for Zuccarello to continue exploiting the chemistry he has with Kaprizov and formed with Rossi at the start of last season. But even if Boldy gets the nod with Kaprizov on the top line, Zuccarello's options down the lineup are much better than in the past.
Last season, if Zuccarello wasn't with Kaprizov or Boldy, his next-best alternative was Marcus Johansson. Now, it's Tarasenko. Sure, you can point to Tarasenko's stat line (11 goals, 33 points) being nearly identical to Johansson's (11 goals, 34 points). Still, Tarasenko was much better at creating dangerous scoring chances than Johansson last season. Even an old version of Tarasenko is likely to have retained more scoring talent than Johansson.
And if Tarasenko doesn't work out? No sweat, Yurov or Liam Öhgren are there to take a spot on the wing if needed, and both have the talent to be productive goal-scorers. That's three viable options to line up opposite Zuccarello before we have to start considering someone like Johansson in that spot, and that's good news for Zuccarello's quest to keep it going at age-38.
Banking on a 38-year-old to remain not just productive, but one of the better point-producers in recent Old Guy memory, is a decent way to look silly down the road. But look, Zuccarello has been spitting in the face of Father Time for this long without a downfall. Until further notice, I can't bet against him keeping a good chunk of his production going for the 2025-26 season.
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