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Mats Zuccarello

Injury Updates: Kakko, Zuccarello, Brodin, Foligno

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New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko joined the team’s skate this morning in a red no-contact jersey, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. This is believed to be the first instance of Kakko at Rangers practice since the forward suffered a leg injury in November.

While Kakko is likely still a decent way off from a full-on return to the Rangers, this is undeniably encouraging news. The 22-year-old’s injury has left the Rangers thinner at their right wing position compared to just about any other position on their roster, and despite his slow start to the year, Kakko had a career year last season with 18 goals and 40 points.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • Minnesota Wild forward Mats Zuccarello continues to skate as he pursues a return to the ice, and The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that Zuccarello could return before the Wild make their trip to Tampa to play the Lightning in the middle of January. Zuccarello has been out since December 16th and has 28 points in 28 games this season.
  • Smith also relayed an update on defenseman Jonas Brodin, who has been out since December 8th due to injury. A key defensive defenseman for Minnesota, Brodin skated for the first time since his injury and could be inching closer to a full return. He’s averaging just under 24 minutes of ice time per game this season, including three minutes short-handed.
  • Marcus Foligno was classified as a game-time decision for the Wild’s January 2nd contest due to a lingering undisclosed injury, but now The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that he’s considered out on a day-to-day timeline. Foligno, 32, is a respected defensive forward and the Wild benefit when he’s on the ice rather than off it, especially considering his $3.1MM cap hit is even more meaningful due to the Wild’s existing cap constraints.

Evening Notes: Hartman, Blankenburg, Makar

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Ryan Hartman will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury. Hartman’s injury is a microcosm of the kind of season it has been for the Wild this year. The 29-year-old spent roughly two weeks toiling on the Wild’s fourth line, only to get moved up in the lineup where he scored goals in back-to-back games before falling to this latest injury.

The Wild are dealing with injuries to key players at the moment as defensemen Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon are out, as is forward Mats Zuccarello. Despite the injury troubles, the Wild have been playing solid hockey under new head coach John Hynes as the team is 8-3 since he took over being the bench after a shaky 5-10-4 start to the season under former head coach Dean Evason.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg isn’t playing tonight due to an upper-body injury. The Washington, Michigan native has dressed in six games this season for Columbus and has yet to register a point. He was recalled earlier this month after spending the first two months of the season with the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate and dressed in 36 games last season for Columbus, tallying four goals and ten assists.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have announced that defenseman Cale Makar will return to the lineup after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. The former Norris Trophy winner was considered a game-time decision but after taking warmup with the team it appears the decision was made for the 25-year-old to play against the Ottawa Senators. Makar has eight goals and 29 assists this season in just 27 games and will give a much-needed boost to the Avalanche team that has lost seven of their last 11 games.

Minnesota Wild Move Mats Zuccarello To Injured Reserve

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The Minnesota Wild have placed their leading point scorer, Mats Zuccarello, on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. This will hold the 36-year-old winger out for at least one week, although the team’s recent designation of Zuccarello as ’week-to-week’ suggests that he might be out for longer. Zuccarello has 28 points in 28 games this season, including a team-leading 22 assists.

Zuccarello is continuing to excel offensively with Minnesota, after recording 67 points in 78 games last season and a career-high 79 points in 70 games in 2021-22. The Wild brought in Zuccarello ahead of the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, dealing two conditional draft picks to Dallas that would ultimately turn into a 2019 second round pick and 2020 third round pick. Minnesota signed Zuccarello to a two-year, $8.5MM contract extension in September, carrying the winger through the 2025-26 season.

Minnesota is getting back on track under new head coach John Hynes, winning eight of the 11 games they’ve played under the new brass. This hot streak has been manned by Minnesota’s youth, with Brock Faber scoring six points, Marco Rossi scoring seven points, and Matt Boldy scoring 10 points since Hynes took over. This includes Boldy’s seven goals in his last 11 games, tied for the third-most in the league since November 28th.

Vinni Lettieri slotted into the lineup to fill in for Zuccarello on Tuesday night and looks to remain on the ice as the Wild don’t currently have any extra forwards on the roster. The team could also turn towards a minor league call-up, with Nic Petan, Jujhar Khaira, and Samuel Walker all having slotted into the NHL lineup at some point this season.

Mats Zuccarello Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that Mats Zuccarello will miss the team’s Tuesday night game, designating him as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The veteran forward has been a focal piece of Minnesota’s offense through the early season, currently leading the team in scoring with 28 points in 28 games.

Zuccarello is in his fifth season with Minnesota, after spending nine seasons with the New York Rangers. His 14-year NHL career comes despite the 5’8″ winger originally going undrafted. Zucarello originally signed with the Rangers following the end of the 2009-10 SHL (then the SEL) season. Zuccarello led MODO Hockey in scoring that season,

Zuccarello began his North American career at the end of the SHL’s 2009-10 season, signing as an undrafted free agent with the Rangers after leading MODO Hockey in scoring. He split the 2010-11 season between the AHL and NHL, recording 23 points in the 42 games he managed with the Rangers lineup. He again split time between the two leagues for 2011-12 and traveled to the KHL for ice time during the lockout 2012-13 season. As a result, it wasn’t until 2013-14 that Zuccarello received his first full NHL season and he made the most of it – leading the Rangers in scoring with 19 goals and 59 points in 77 games. His strong offense helped propel New York to the Stanley Cup Finals that season, with Zuccarello adding 13 points in 25 playoff games.

Extra forward Vinni Lettieri will likely slot into the lineup in the wake of Zuccarello’s injury. Lettieri has already appeared in 14 games with the Wild this season, scoring three goals and four points. Minnesota could also turn towards an AHL call-up, with minor-leaguers Nic Petan, Jujhar Khaira, and Samuel Walker all slotting into the NHL lineup at some point this season.

Injury Notes: Penguins, Wild, Tarasenko, Lyon, Sherwood

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After previous reporting indicated that the Pittsburgh Penguins could be welcoming back the trio of Rickard Rakell, Noel Acciari, and Chad Ruhwedel tonight, the team would later confirm all three would be in the lineup tonight, per a team announcement. Included in the same announcement, the team completed a corresponding move, sending forwards Jonathan Gruden and Marc Johnstone to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Penguins could certainly use the reinforcements, as the team is suffering through a 4-3-3 record in their last 10 games, falling to fifth in the Metropolitan Division, and are currently five points back of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference as we approach the New Year. In their current stretch, besides their most recent game against the Toronto Maple Leafs two nights ago, each game’s goal differential has been between one and two goals, showing that with improved depth moving forward, Pittsburgh could turn things around rather quickly.

Rakell being the most important player back in this move, has been going through a bit of a down season, only scoring four points on the year, and failing to score any goals up to this point. Nevertheless, he has been a valuable addition to the Penguins forward core since coming over in a trade from the Anaheim Ducks, scoring 32 goals and 77 points in 118 regular season games for Pittsburgh.

Other notes:

  • On the opposite side of the ice in Pittsburgh this evening, the Minnesota Wild will be without two of their better players. Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports reports that captain Jared Spurgeon did not end up traveling with the team due to a lower-body injury. Furthermore, shortly before warmups began for the game tonight, the team announced that forward Mats Zuccarello would not be in the lineup due to an upper-body injury.
  • After missing the last two games due to personal reasons, the Ottawa Senators should be welcoming back forward Vladimir Tarasenko tomorrow night as they take on the Arizona Coyotes (X Link). With some massive changes taking place in Ottawa over the last 24 hours, Tarasenko will look to improve on his already impressive start with the Senators, now in front of interim head coach, Jacques Martin.
  • In the Detroit Red Wings’ most recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers, goaltender Alex Lyon left the game in the second period, after going down awkwardly after making a save. Now, Ansar Khan of MLive is reporting that if he has not shown signs of recovery by Wednesday, Detroit will likely place Lyon on the injured reserve, leaving the net to Ville Husso and James Reimer.
  • Sustaining relatively good health as an organization throughout much of the year, the Nashville Predators will be welcoming back forward Kiefer Sherwood tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks (X Link). Amid a breakout season as far as his career standards say, Sherwood has provided solid depth scoring to the Nashville lineup this season, scoring five goals and 11 points in 29 games.

Evening Notes: Hartman, Zuccarello, Islanders/Rangers

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After finalizing extensions for both Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello today, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin confirmed to The Athletic’s Joe Smith that things are also “heading that way” regarding an extension for center/winger Ryan Hartman. That confirms a report from The Athletic’s Michael Russo earlier this week that Minnesota had begun extension talks with all three players.

Guerin didn’t give a firm timeline on when we could see an extension for Hartman announced, and there’s likely still a little bit of work to be done, but it could be as soon as early next week. Hartman, a winger for most of his NHL career, shifted to center in his second season with Minnesota out of roster need and quickly ended up on the team’s top unit between Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov. Hartman’s statement season came in 2021-22, exploding for a career-high 34 goals and 65 points while playing in all 82 games. He couldn’t quite follow it up, however, as injuries limited him to 59 appearances in 2022-23, in which he posted 15 goals and 37 points.

While he has been an admirable pinch-hitter for the Wild at an extreme position of need in his prime, he’s not an ideal long-term solution as a pivot given his rather poor performance in the faceoff circle – he’s posted just a 43.6% win rate over the past three seasons despite taking well over 2,000 draws. He does still carry immense value as a versatile middle-six forward, however, and he’s in line to earn a significant raise over his current $1.7MM cap hit. Evolving-Hockey projects an extension for Hartman to come in at around the $5.5MM mark per season with a four-year term as the most likely – a more expensive deal but similar nonetheless to the one Foligno signed earlier today.

Elsewhere around the league tonight:

  • Sticking with Minnesota, PuckPedia added some further clarity on the inner workings of Zuccarello’s two-year, $4.125MM cap hit extension signed today. Given the front-loaded structure of the deal, which sees him earn $4.7MM in 2024-25 compared to just $3.55MM in 2025-26, plus its label as a 35+ deal, the contract is essentially buyout-proof and will not earn the Wild any cap relief should they opt to execute one in the summer of 2025. Zuccarello will be 38 entering the final season of the extension, but he’s produced well over market value for the Wild over his four seasons there and, even accounting for some natural decline, should be worth the money given an increased cap ceiling in the final season of the extension.
  • Moving East, watchful eyes may have noticed tonight’s preseason Battle of New York between the Islanders and Rangers didn’t go on as scheduled. That’s because the game was postponed earlier today due to the local state of emergency declared due to extreme flooding in Brooklyn and throughout the New York metropolitan area. A home game for the Islanders at UBS Arena, the tilt has been pushed to Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT or 7 p.m. local time.

Wild Sign Marcus Foligno To Four-Year Extension

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Mats Zuccarello isn’t the only player getting an extension from the Wild today.  The team announced that it has signed winger Marcus Foligno to a four-year, $16MM contract extension.  Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the deal carries a full no-move clause in the first two seasons and a partial no-trade clause in the final two seasons.  CapFriendly adds (via Twitter) the breakdown of the money:

2024-25: $5MM
2025-26: $4.5MM
2026-27: $3.5MM
2027-28: $3MM

The 32-year-old has been a fixture in Minnesota’s middle six for the past six seasons after they acquired him from Buffalo back in 2017 as part of the swap that saw the Sabres re-acquire winger Jason Pominville.  Along the way, he has become an important part of their leadership group and currently serves as one of their alternate captains.

The last two seasons were polar opposites for Foligno.  In 2021-22, he posted career highs offensively, notching 23 goals and 19 assists in 74 games.  For context, he had only had two seasons where he had more than 23 points, both coming during his time with Minnesota.  However, he wasn’t able to come close to that output last year as he was held to just seven tallies along with 14 helpers in 65 contests.

The version of Foligno that put up 40 points is probably worth that contract when you factor in his physicality and ability to play on both special teams units.  However, last year’s version doesn’t quite justify that cost.  That makes it interesting that GM Bill Guerin opted for the early extension here before seeing if last season was a blip or a sign of things to come.

The deal represents a $900K increase on his current agreement which runs through the 2023-24 season.  Those savings will come from Zuccarello’s new contract which saw his AAV dip by $1.875MM.  Basically, Guerin was able to get two core veterans signed while still creating a bit of extra wiggle room for next season.  Earlier today, Guerin confirmed that extension discussions are underway with Ryan Hartman, another pending UFA as he tries to take care of his spending before the season gets underway.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minnesota Wild Sign Mats Zuccarello To Two-Year Extension

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The Minnesota Wild have re-signed forward Mats Zuccarello to a two-year, $4.125MM AAV contract extension, set to begin in 2024-25. The deal carries a no-move clause for its entire duration, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo.

Zuccarello, who turned 36 on the first day of the month, commits the next two years of his playing career to the Wild, the place where he’s enjoyed the most productive seasons of his career.

Zuccarello has had quite a bit of chemistry with Wild franchise superstar Kirill Kaprizov, and as a result Zuccarello has flown past his previous career highs in Minnesota.

Zuccarello scored 79 points in just 70 games in 2021-22, his first season above the point-per-game mark in his career. Last season, Zuccarello scored 22 goals and 67 points in 78 games.

Even though Zuccarello has been exceptional in Minnesota since the arrival of Kaprizov, this contract does carry some risk. The Wild are in a brutal cap situation thanks to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, and those buyouts will remain on their books to a degree of over $14MM combined in the first year of Zuccarello’s extension.

While Zuccarello could provide an immense amount of surplus value on a $4.125MM cap hit (a pay cut from his current $6MM cap figure) that only happens if he can maintain his current level of play or decline only slightly. If age starts to really catch up with Zuccarello and he has a poor 2023-24, Zuccarello’s $4.125MM cap number could quickly become a burden.

But from the Wild’s perspective, it’s understandable that they’d avoid taking the pessimistic view of Zuccarello’s next two seasons and instead reward a valued veteran who has more than repaid former GM Paul Fenton’s original investment from the summer of 2019.

There’s risk involved to this deal, but there’s also major upside if Zuccarello can remain a valuable top-six scorer.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minnesota Opens Extension Talks With Foligno, Zuccarello, Hartman

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The Athletic’s Michael Russo shared that, while the team hasn’t acknowledged it yet, it seems they’ve begun talking extensions with their ’big three’ – Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello, and Ryan Hartman. All three veterans are pending free agents, a part of the 10 Wild players facing free agency next summer.

Russo walked through what to expect with each player’s contract talks in turn. Foligno is expected to boast the easiest conversations, as the contract he’s currently on (three years, $9.3MM) could be really close to the details of his next deal. Foligno has become a fan favorite, offering an important amount of grit and physicality to the team’s top six. He recorded 42 points and 112 penalty minutes in the 2021-22 season – career highs in both categories and his first time breaking 30 points – but fell back to Earth this year, only netting 21 points in 75 games. Still, with scoring not the reward of Folingo’s game, there’s some reason to expect he can maintain his impact through the end of his career.

Mats Zuccarello is facing a similarly positive outlook on his next deal. There’s no denying the chemistry formed between Zuccarello and Wild star winger Kirill Kaprizov, both on and off of the ice. That bond alone is enough to warrant a contract extension, although Russo notes it will likely have to come at a reduced cost. Zuccarello currently carries a $6MM cap hit on a deal he signed in 2019. Now 36, a new deal will likely have to carry short-term and short costs. But how much longer Zuccarello, who scored 67 points last year, can play will be an interesting storyline to follow.

While Foligno and Zuccarello seem like sure bets to re-sign, Russo doesn’t express that same optimism with Hartman. The forward has emerged as the team’s top-line center and a dangerous goal-scorer, netting 34 goals in 2021-22. But, like Foligno, Hartman’s scoring didn’t survive through last season. He recorded just 37 points in 59 games. While not a terrible tally by any means, it could be just low enough that Hartman begins to feel pressure as young prospects earn roster spots. The Wild are overflowing with young talent and Hartman is set for a pay raise from his current $1.7MM cap hit. If the Wild can support both of those things at once is yet to be seen, although Russo does note that Hartman would carry great trade deadline value. He was traded for a first-round pick at the 2018 trade deadline, before he was ever the goal-scorer he is today. While he’s now much older, Minnesota has shown the extent of Hartman’s untapped potential – something a team on the playoff bubble could really enjoy. Of course, this trade feels most likely if young centermen like Marco Rossi are able to step up.

Wild Notes: Gustavsson, Sundqvist, Zuccarello

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Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Filip Gustavsson was the first goalie off at Minnesota Wild practice today indicating that he will likely get the start in game six tonight against the Dallas Stars. Gustavsson has been between the pipes for four of the Wild’s five playoff games and has given up just nine goals on 125 shots. Although those numbers are sparking, Gustavsson has struggled in each of his last two starts giving up three goals in each game on just 24 shots. This drop in his play coupled with the brilliant play of Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger has Minnesota on the ropes as they will face elimination in game six tonight.

There was some speculation that Minnesota could turn to veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to start game six, but Fleury has struggled in his last four starts dating back to early April. The former Vezina winner has only started one game in the series, a game two loss in which he gave up seven goals on 31 shots. Gustavsson had superior numbers to Fleury in the regular season as well and may even garner some Vezina consideration come awards season.

In other Minnesota notes:

  • Michael Russo tweeted that Oskar Sundqvist could possibly play tonight for the Wild. Sundqvist hasn’t dressed since game two of the Dallas series and has a goal in just a single game in these playoffs. The two-time Stanley Cup winner was healthy scratched for game three and hasn’t seen game action since. The 29-year-old Swede came over from the Detroit Red Wings in a trade deadline move for a fourth-round pick and looked to be a fit putting up seven points in 15 games. However, in the playoffs the Wild have opted for more toughness and have kept Ryan Reaves in the lineup over Sundqvist.
  • Russo also tweeted that Wild forward Mats Zuccarello will likely be out of the lineup, or best-case scenario he will be a game time decision. The Norway native didn’t skate yesterday with the team and is dealing with an undisclosed ailment. The Wild have been tight lipped about the situation and at this point there are more questions than answers. Zuccarello has been fantastic for the Wild this season with 67 points in 78 games during the regular season and has followed that up with two goals and three assists through five playoff games. Should he be unable to dress, the Wild will be hard pressed to replicate his production in the most important game of their season.

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