The Los Angeles Kings didn’t land the flashiest name of the day, but they may have gotten one of the cleanest bargains in the NHL.
Mats Zuccarello is joining Los Angeles on a one-year deal worth $1 million plus potential bonuses, and the fit is obvious. He’s 38 years old, he’s 5-foot-8, and he’s not going to win any footraces. None of that has stopped him from being exactly the kind of player teams love to have: a gifted passer who can make life easier for everyone around him.
That’s been the story throughout his 16 NHL seasons. Zuccarello has built a reputation as one of the league’s best facilitators, the kind of winger who can feed a finisher in stride, slip a puck to the back door, or find a one-timer before the defense even reacts.
In Minnesota, he was Kirill Kaprizov’s security blanket and a major force on the power play. The Wild felt it when he missed Games 2, 3 and 4 of their first-round series against the Dallas Stars.
Now that skill set heads to Los Angeles, where Zuccarello could end up playing a similar role for a different set of weapons. He may not slot into the Kings’ top six, but he looks like an easy call for the top power-play unit.
There, he can distribute to Adrian Kempe, set up Quinton Byfield around the net, or work with newly re-signed Corey Perry. The Kings are getting a player who may be entering the late stage of his career, but still knows how to make offense happen.
The numbers back that up. Zuccarello is nearing 1,000 career games, and his underlying impact has held up remarkably well.
His xG percentage has never dipped below 48.58, and in all but four of his 16 seasons he’s stayed above water. He doesn’t drive play at five-on-five the way a true engine would, but he remains effective at even strength and responsible enough to trust in meaningful minutes.
That’s what makes the price tag stand out so much. A nearly point-a-game player - 54 points in 59 games with Minnesota this past season - for a deal that sits just above the league minimum is the kind of move that can quietly tilt a roster. It may not grab headlines the way a blockbuster trade does, but it has the look of a real value win.
Shayna Goldman sees it that way too, though she also notes the Kings are hardly a team that needs to keep getting older or slower after extending Perry and signing Erik Haula. Even so, Zuccarello is the exception because the contract is so team-friendly and the player still has plenty left.
By the time next season begins, Zuccarello will be 39, but Goldman pointed out that he projects to be worth $8.2 million next year. That figure could shift depending on how he adapts away from Kaprizov and whether age starts to bite harder, but the broader point remains: there’s still real game here.
His return in November helped turn Minnesota around after a slow start, and his absence in the playoffs was impossible to miss. The reason his game has aged so well is simple enough.
It doesn’t depend on burst or speed. Zuccarello sees the ice well, reads plays early and moves the puck with purpose.
He does the little things right, which is exactly why he’s the kind of top-nine support piece stars love.
Maybe that ends up helping Byfield. Maybe it helps Kempe.
Maybe it gives the Kings a needed jolt on a power play that can use all the help it can get. However it shakes out, Los Angeles added a smart, useful piece for almost nothing.
For the Kings, that’s a slam dunk. For the Wild, it’s a much tougher loss to absorb.
In Other News...
Kings May Have Finally Found The Bargain Fix For Their Offense
The offseason push to juice the offense has led the Kings toward a familiar kind of solution: veteran help on manageable money. Mats Zuccarello and Corey Perry were brought in on short-term deals, giving Los Angeles a pair of experienced forwards who can fit into different parts of the lineup while also keeping the front offices financial flexibility intact.
For Ken Holland, the appeal is clear. Zuccarello should help on the power play, Perry brings scoring and edge, and the bargain structure of both signings opens the door for more roster work elsewhere, including the addition of Erik Haula. The bigger question now is how much lift those moves can actually provide for a team that has been looking for a more reliable offensive punch. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Free Agency Targets Matter More Than Ever After Kopitar's Exit
With NHL free agency set to open July 1, the Kings are heading into a stretch that could shape the post-Anze Kopitar era more than any one trade deadline ever did. General manager Ken Holland is working with a roster that needs help in several places, from blue-line depth to center support and another forward who can slide into the top six and keep the offense moving.
One name already tied to that search is Jack Roslovic, a center who can bring some scoring punch without forcing a major cap commitment. For a team trying to replace a franchise pillar while still patching up multiple spots on the lineup card, those kinds of value bets matter, and the Kings are likely to spend the first days of July weighing which additions fit best before the market thins out. [Read more 🡒]
Corey Perry Is Back And It Says Plenty About The Kings
Corey Perry is sticking around in Los Angeles for at least one more season, with the Kings rewarding the veteran forward with a one-year extension. It is a familiar sort of move for a team that has leaned into experience, and for Perry it adds another chapter to a career that has already stretched across 21 NHL seasons.
What makes the deal notable is the opportunity it creates for a pretty rare milestone. If Perry gets into at least 36 games this season, he will move into the NHLs exclusive 1,500-career-games club, a marker that would further underscore just how long he has lasted at this level. For the Kings, it is another sign they still see value in what Perry brings, even as his career keeps pushing into territory only a handful of players ever reach. [Read more 🡒]