Penguins sacrifice future for another Stanley Cup shot with Zucker deal

Pittsburgh has positioned themselves to make a run for their fourth Stanley Cup in the Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin era with the recent Jason Zucker deal.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were going to get a top-six winger of some sort before the trade deadline. They not only got that in 28-year-old Jason Zucker, but they were able to get their presumed No. 1 target all along in him on Monday.

According to general manager Jim Rutherford, Pittsburgh had been eyeing Zucker for a couple of years now, and people forget that he would already be a Penguin by now if Phil Kessel didn’t veto a trade to the Minnesota Wild over the summer. Now that he’s here, though, the Penguins mean business as they’re gunning for another Stanley Cup in the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin era.

Cost to acquire Jason Zucker

The trade itself is good for both teams, but if you’re the Penguins, you make this trade 10 out of 10 times. They’re definitely sacrificing the future to get Zucker, and they have done this plenty of times in the past because they have to. Crosby, Malkin, and Kris Letang are on the opposite of 30 now and they’re not getting any younger.

Trading a top prospect in Calen Addison was a little bit surprising considering how high the Penguins were on him, but was he really going to impact the team in the next couple of years? Pittsburgh has big insurance policies with him gone, such as the emergence of John Marino, and prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph in the system, who the Penguins got in the Phil Kessel trade.

The lack of prospects is not going to be a problem for the Penguins, and the first-round pick that they gave away is going to be in the low 20s to early 30s if everything goes to plan. First-round picks in that range have a low chance of panning out, and as for Alex Galchenyuk, he badly needed a change of scenery as he wasn’t getting any ice time at all and wasn’t producing.

The fit

To say that the fit is perfect for Zucker would be a massive understatement. He plays the style of play that the Penguins do, as he’s speedy, can forecheck hard, is responsible defensively and has that goal-scoring ability. He has one 30-goal season under his belt already, with a few 20-goal seasons sprinkled in there as well.

Zucker is going to look to regain his early-season form before he broke his fibula. He had 24 points in his first 34 games before the injury. Since then, he only has five points, and it doesn’t help that he’s been bounced around the lineup a lot.

In Pittsburgh, Zucker won’t be bouncing around the lineup though, as head coach Mike Sullivan said on Tuesday that he’s going to start on Crosby’s line. Crosby is obviously the best center that Zucker will have ever played with, and with his goal-scoring touch and ability to find the soft spots on the ice, it looks to be a match made in heaven.

The Penguins are also third in expected goals per 60 minutes at even-strength, which makes it even better that he’s going to a dynamite offensive team. Here’s a look at some of Zucker’s handy work throughout his career:

Zucker’s ability to wait out St. Louis Blues’ netminder Jake Allen for his tying goal is just extraordinary. He couldn’t cut to the inside because there was a defender and he just froze Allen and made him pay.

Here’s an example of how Zucker has a knack of going to the net:

He starts out at the point, then goes to a prime scoring area right at the net and buries a pass from Eric Staal.

It’s plays like these — and much more — that will make this a great acquisition for the Penguins. He’s also signed for three more years after this season, so they’ll get four potential playoff runs with him, with a chance to get that fourth Stanley Cup for Crosby, Malkin and Letang. When you’re a win-now team, these are the acquisitions that perennial Stanley Cup contenders make.

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