Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a one-year, $5MM contract with free agent forward Jason Zucker.
Zucker, 32, projects to be a cheaper veteran replacement for Jeff Skinner, who had the final three seasons of his $9MM AAV contract bought out on Saturday. Unfortunately, he’s also a lower-ceiling option. Zucker had just 14 goals in 69 games split between the Coyotes and Predators last season, his lowest offensive output in a healthy season since 2015-16.
He’s still a viable depth scoring option, just likely not in a top-six role for a team intent on making the playoffs. Buffalo likely believes there’s some rebound potential they can unlock by sticking him with some faster, younger linemates – potentially in the top six alongside Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. However, Zucker is seven years removed from his career-best 33-goal, 64-point season in Minnesota – is it fair to expect him to sniff rediscovering that?
Zucker does play a physical game for his smallish frame (5’11”, 192 lbs), though, an area Skinner’s game notably lacked. It’s a facet of Buffalo’s team game they’re likely looking to improve under head coach Lindy Ruff next season. Unlike Skinner, Zucker also has a strong history of recent possession numbers and plays a much more well-rounded game. Still, for a $5MM price tag, they’re likely hoping for at least 20 goals and 45 points out of him this year.