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Ex-Rangers star faces free agency, hopes to play until at least age 40
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- Ex-Rangers star faces free agency, hopes to play until at least age 40
Mats Zucarello doesn't appear to have his sights set on retiring after just completing his 16th NHL season. The former New York Rangers forward can be an unrestricted free agent July 1, and hopes to play until he's at least 40 years old.
"I still think I would like to play a couple more years, this year, couple more years. I feel good. But it's something you have to discuss with your family as well," Zuccarello said Friday when asked about his future at Minnesota Wild break up day. "Obviously, I feel like I would like to play a little bit longer, yeah."
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Zuccarello is 38, and turns 39 on Sept. 1. So, yeah do the math. It's a young man's game, but the diminutive forward from Norway believes he's still got plenty to give.
"I feel like I'm 22," he joked.
That's even younger than he was (23) when he made his NHL debut with the Rangers on Dec. 23, 2010, after signing with them as an undrafted free agent. But he may be on to something. Zuccarello found the fountain of youth, of sorts, playing with highly-skilled linemate Kirill Kaprizov in the Twin Cities. Zuccarello averaged nearly a point per game this season, recording 54 points (15 goals, 39 assists) in 59 games, finishing third on the Wild in scoring behind Kaprizov (89 points) and Matt Boldy (85 points).
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Those 59 games, though, were his fewest since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, when Zuccarello played 42 games with the Wild. However, he only appeared in 69 games each of the previous two seasons, so perhaps age is a concern here for a team interested in signing him this summer.
Zuccarello missed the first month of 2025-26 with a lower-body injury, and didn't play his first game until Nov. 7. He also missed time during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, after he was elbowed in the head by Dallas Stars defenseman Tyler Myers . Zuccarello did record nine points (two goals, seven assists) in eight postseason games with the Wild this spring, and helped them reach the second round, where they lost in five games to the Colorado Avalanche in that best-of-7 series.
"I mean everyone's banged up this time of year, that's no secret," Zuccarello explained. "Take some time to recover. But other than that, I feel good, yeah."
Good enough to play another couple years and, at least, to the age of 40. A nine-time 50+-point scorer, Zuccarello has 744 points (232 goals, 512 assists) in 963 regular-season games. That leaves him just 37 games shy of the coveted NHL milestone of 1,000 games played. Add in another 110 playoff contests, when he has 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists), and that's a lot of experience, and wear and tear.
Former Rangers star Mats Zuccarello would like to return to Wild in free agency
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
A Zuccarello reunion on Broadway probably doesn't make sense considering the Rangers are looking to get younger in their retool, not older. And remember, he was originally traded away to the Dallas Stars as part of the first rebuild in 2019.
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So, no matter how popular the three-time Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award winner is with Rangers fans, a reunion now feels unlikely. Plus, it appears Zucc's first choice is to remain with the Wild.
"It's a business, what ever this is, so it's up to Billy [Wild GM Bill Guerin] and us to talk about," he stated. "It's hard for me to say what they want and whatever is going to happen, but it's going to be hard to see yourself leaving here, for sure. I've had my family, my girls growing up here, it feels like home. But it's not always up to yourself, but I'm sure we'll figure that out when the time comes."
Zuccarello earned $4.125 million annually on his latest contract, a two-year extension after he signed a five-year deal worth $30 million ($6 million AAV) on July 1, 2019. He may have to take much less to remain with the Wild, since Kaprizov's massive $17 million AAV deal begins in 2026-27, and stud defenseman Quinn Hughes is eligible to sign an extension July 1, one that will also be eight figures annually.
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"I better sign before [Hughes] takes the rest of it, going to be nothing left for me then," Zuccarello quipped.
Lets' see what happens in free agency. But there should be a deal to be made there between Zuccarello and the Wild, considering the special relationship he shares with their best player, Kaprizov.
If not, someone else very likely will give the likeable veteran a chance to play until he's at least 40.
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