- Mats Zuccarello will hit free agency July 1 for the first time since 2019
- The Athletic reports the veteran winger is “pretty ticked” with the Wild
- Read below for why Minnesota is ready to move on and who could come calling
Mats Zuccarello and the Minnesota Wild are headed for a breakup.
After seven seasons in Minnesota, Zuccarello will become an unrestricted free agent for the first time since 2019 when the market opens July 1. He isn’t leaving on great terms either. Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic reported the 38-year-old winger is “pretty ticked about how things have gone.”
Here’s the report:
The frustration traces back to the Wild putting their offseason on hold. Minnesota has spent weeks waiting on a possible trade for Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, and how that shakes out decides how much cap room they have to spend.
It didn’t help that general manager Bill Guerin handed Michael McCarron a six-year extension on June 9 while Zuccarello’s talks sat on the backburner.
Per Russo and Smith, the Wild look ready to move on anyway. The thinking is that Kirill Kaprizov has leaned on his close friend and linemate a little too much, and that splitting the two up could push Kaprizov into a heavier, more north-south game.
Watch the kind of connection Minnesota is about to break up:
That chemistry was no accident. Zuccarello and Kaprizov factored in on the same goal 183 times after Kaprizov arrived in 2021, one of the most productive pairings in the league.
Now the question is where he lands. The Athletic floated the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings as fits, and a point-producing winger like Zuccarello won’t sit on the open market for long.
Minnesota already has Yakov Trenin on the block to clear space, so the roster turnover in St. Paul is well underway.
