The Pittsburgh Penguins addressed a need in their top six as they ready for the playoffs. But they had to pay a price to do so, sending a decent-size package back to the Minnesota Wild.
Penguins get: F Jason Zucker
Wild get: F Alex Galchenyuk, D Calen Addison, 2020 conditional first-round pick
Pittsburgh Penguins: A-
Zucker is two seasons removed from a 33-goal, 31-assist campaign that earned him the five-year, $27.5 million contract that the Wild just cleared from its salary cap. In hindsight, that seems like a "singing for your supper," contract-year, stats surge, as his offensive numbers leveled out after that. But Zucker shot 14.9% that season. He's shooting 18.7% this season. He's a goal scorer who's likely going to slide in on Sidney Crosby's wing. This should be fun.
Zucker has been an under-the-radar standout for the Wild. Over the past three seasons, he has been their second-best forward when measured by goals scored above average per 60 minutes (0.604). He was also second on Minnesota in individual expected goals rate at 5-on-5 (34.58) for the past three seasons. His contract was signed after a 30-goal season and could look like a bargain if Zucker gets back to that level while playing with Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. A $5.5 million cap hit through 2023 gives the Penguins a level of cost certainty, as well.
Since Zucker doesn't have a no-move clause, Pittsburgh could also use him as Seattle expansion draft bait should the need arise. He's a solid player, a solid citizen and a much better investment than the rental wingers on the market. General manager Jim Rutherford finally gets his man, and the cost -- while potentially heavy, depending on prospect development -- certainly doesn't harm the current roster.
Minnesota Wild: B+
The first consideration here for the Wild: The trade with the Penguins that they didn't make. Last May, the Wild were going to trade Zucker and forward Victor Rask for defenseman Jack Johnson and forward Phil Kessel. Johnson is a 33-year-old, mediocre-at-best defenseman. Kessel, 32, who blocked the trade with his no-trade clause, is having his worst offensive season since 2008 with the Arizona Coyotes. That was, of course, a Paul Fenton joint.
Wild GM Bill Guerin came over from the Penguins, so one assumes he has a better understanding of what's coming back for Zucker than most. And what's coming back, again, isn't a 33-year-old defenseman and a 32-year-old forward making over $10 million against the cap.
Galchenyuk is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Wild will have a few months to see if there's anything there with the third overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft. He's 25 years old now and on this fourth team since 2018. His 30-goal season with Montreal happened in 2015-16 but feels like a century ago. He's a below-replacement player and a defensive liability, but hey, the Wild had to take some salary back here. At least the contract is expiring.
The 2020 first-round pick is lottery-protected and would defer to 2021 if the Penguins miss the playoffs this season. As of Monday, Pittsburgh had the fourth-best record in the NHL.
This brings us to Addison, the defenseman who seems to be the centerpiece of the deal. From ESPN prospects writer Chris Peters: "Calen Addison was arguably the Penguins' best prospect in one of the shallowest prospect pools in the league. The 19-year-old has been a big-time producer in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and was part of Canada's gold-medal team at the 2020 World Junior Championship, where he had nine points in seven games. Addison is a shifty puck-mover with average size and high-end vision. He has cleaned up a lot of the areas of his game that left him off of my summer top 100 by being more responsible defensively and making smarter decisions with the puck. The Wild address an area of substantial need within their system, as I would rank Addison as the best among the Wild's blue-line prospects at the moment."
The pick and the prospect, along with the contract flexibility in Galchenyuk's free-agent status and Zucker's deal coming off the books, nudge this grade up to a B-plus. It creates a spot for super-prospect Kirill Kaprizov to slide into next season for the Wild. And, again, this could have gone a lot worse if last year's trade had gone through. As they used to chant in Boston, "Thank you, Kessel."