Believed to be a strong trade candidate as a pending unrestricted free agent, the Sabres were looking to get Jason Zucker off the market entirely. They’ve accomplished just that as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the sides are in agreement on a two-year, $9.75MM contract extension.
The 33-year-old had to settle for a one-year contract last season, spending time between Arizona and Nashville, who acquired him in a low-cost trade deadline rental move. However, he was only able to notch 14 goals and 18 assists in 69 games between the two sides which was certainly not a good for his open market value. Accordingly, Zucker ultimately accepted another one-year pact in July, signing for $5MM.
That has worked out well for both sides. While Buffalo has struggled and is set to miss the playoffs once again this year, Zucker has bounced back nicely. Through 54 games this season, he has 18 goals and 26 assists, giving him a realistic shot at a 50-point campaign, a plateau he has only reached once in his career. With the 44 points he has now, he sits fifth on the Sabres in scoring.
Zucker made it known back in January that he was interested in extending his stay with Buffalo and he was true to his word. Even with a big jump in the salary cap coming, he winds up taking a small pay cut with the AAV of this new deal checking in at $4.75MM. If he had a good finish to his season – in Buffalo or elsewhere – it’s possible that he could have landed at least a small raise on the open market while also potentially getting a multi-year deal. Instead, he opts for some stability with where he’s comfortable.
While the Sabres now won’t be getting anything for what was likely to be one of their better trade chips, there’s certainly value in keeping Zucker around. All rebuilding teams need quality veterans and Zucker certainly has been one of them and he’ll now fill a spot in their top six for a couple more years.
With the signing, Buffalo now has a little under $24MM in cap room for next season, per PuckPedia with 15 players under contract. While they have a prominent pending RFA to contend with in Bowen Byram, the Sabres should still have ample cap space to try to add another quality veteran or two to their roster this summer.
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