If Patrick Kane walks, the Detroit Red Wings have a problem on their hands.
That’s not subtle. That’s 16 goals and 57 points potentially disappearing from a team that is already hunting for more offense. And if Kane does indeed head out, the Red Wings will need a way to patch a pretty obvious hole.
One option? A familiar kind of scorer in the same age range, with the same free-agent label, and a track record that still plays.
Mats Zuccarello is officially headed to market Wednesday, according to Pierre LeBrun. The 38-year-old right wing is coming off back-to-back 58-point seasons with the Minnesota Wild, and he did it while carrying a $4.125 million cap hit.
Zuccarello has produced 34 goals and 108 points over the past two seasons in Minnesota, which is exactly the sort of steady offense Detroit would have reason to study closely. He’s not a splashy fit. He’s a practical one.
There’s also a built-in connection that makes the idea more interesting: fellow Norwegian Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.
The two were linemates at the IIHF World Championship in Brandsegg-Nygard’s draft year, and the chemistry showed right away. At the 2024 worlds, Brandsegg-Nygard scored three goals and added two assists, while Zuccarello piled up six assists.
“It was just a good experience to play with him,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “He said to me just to keep my shots down.
He’s gonna pass the puck to me so I can shoot. That was the only thing he said.”
Brandsegg-Nygard has made it clear how much Zuccarello has meant to him as a player and as a countryman.
“I can only speak for myself, but I know Mats Zuccarello was a big role model,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “I look up to him. It was good to see a Norwegian reach it and play in the NHL.
“Hopefully, I can be a role model for young players in Norway and help hockey in Norway to be more popular and one day be a big hockey nation.”
None of that guarantees anything for Detroit. Kane may still stay.
Zuccarello may have better options than the Red Wings. And there’s no indication he’d want to land in Detroit.
But if the day breaks the wrong way for the Wings and Kane is gone, Zuccarello is the kind of proven point producer Steve Yzerman would have to at least consider.
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