ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Like a 1945 Bordeaux, Mats Zuccarello keeps getting better with age.<\/p>\n
How else do you explain Zuccarello averaging 0.68 points per game up until age 32 and 0.91 points per game from age 33 to his current 38?<\/p>\n
Well, in his seventh year with the Minnesota Wild, Zuccarello would be the first to point out that having Kirill Kaprizov as his linemate is a big reason for his continued growth since his early years as a very productive New York Ranger.<\/p>\n
At the end of last season, Zuccarello was peppered with questions about whether Kaprizov, his closest friend on the Wild, would sign an extension with Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the most important thing for him is that I get a job or some kind of salary from this team for the next eight years,\u201d he joked. \u201cOther than that, I don\u2019t think much matters to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaprizov has since signed an eight-year extension, so on Friday, we asked Zuccarello if Kaprizov will get his wish and see his pal stick around for another eight or nine years to coincide with the whopping $136 million contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep telling him someday I gotta leave. I can\u2019t play forever,\u201d Zuccarello said. \u201cI love playing with Kirill. We play well together, but he\u2019s played really well without me and someday will have to (permanently).\u201d<\/p>\n
Zuccarello was unavailable to talk with reporters throughout training camp and the start of the season because of a core muscle surgery that eventually required surgery and carved off the first 15 games of his season. That made Friday the first chance to ask Zuccarello about his future.<\/p>\n
Despite still being an exceptional playmaker and top-line winger on the Wild, Zuccarello said he hasn\u2019t decided whether he\u2019ll play beyond this season \u2014 the final year of a two-year, $8.25 million contract ($4.125 million average annual value).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take the season to see how I feel,\u201d Zuccarello told The Athletic. \u201cIf I feel that I\u2019m good enough to play at this level, I would like to play. If I feel like I\u2019m not good enough, then I just don\u2019t want to be a guy to take up a spot and is not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zuccarello said he has the full support of his wife, Marlene, who is pregnant with their third child and due in February, to keep playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just more on me in terms of how I\u2019m feeling and if I\u2019m good enough,\u201d said Zuccarello, before adding in his typical self-deprecating manner, \u201cI\u2019m old, you know? I don\u2019t want to look old on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wild got off to a difficult 5-7-3 start without Zuccarello and are 2-0-1 with him back in the lineup. He has two assists in those two games, creating blistering one-timer goals from Kaprizov against the New York Islanders and Matt Boldy against the San Jose Sharks.<\/p>\n
\nLook at the vision here from Mats Zuccarello \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n
And a perfect finish from Matt Boldy! pic.twitter.com\/k0f07Xq4Ys<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 NHL (@NHL) November 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s refreshing to have Zuccarello\u2019s humor back in the locker room, too.<\/p>\n
For instance, when Brock Faber took Nazem Kadri\u2019s knee to the nether region last weekend, the Wild defenseman said he and Zuccarello almost immediately \u201cshared words\u201d in the locker room between periods.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow he knows how it feels,\u201d Zuccarello told us.<\/p>\n
That reference is to last Nov. 14, when Zuccarello was hospitalized and ended up missing a month after rupturing a testicle courtesy of a Faber slap shot against the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n
Still, Zuccarello hasn\u2019t been overly ecstatic about his performance in his first three games back. He called the passes to Kaprizov and Boldy \u201cjust a couple plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stepping into an NHL season after missing more than a month and all of training camp isn\u2019t easy for any player, let alone a 38-year-old. He\u2019s still trying to find his timing and keep the injury out of his head so he feels comfortable pushing on the ice more and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not an ideal situation, for sure, especially when you felt like you were really prepared and had a really good summer working out,\u201d Zuccarello said. \u201cAnd especially when you get at my age, it takes a little longer to recover and little longer to get 100 percent. So I\u2019m still managing it and seeing what I can do and cannot do. And obviously it takes some time for me to get into the flow of the game and feel comfortable, especially with the puck and knowing where everyone is and stuff like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not fun. You feel like you wasted four months of the summer hard working for pretty much nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zuccarello hasn\u2019t created nearly as much as he\u2019s wanted to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m no (Connor) McDavid or Kirill Kaprizov, but you expect more from yourself in terms of just helping out all over the ice, not just offense,\u201d said Zuccarello, who is fifth in Wild history with 234 assists and eighth with 337 points. \u201cWhen you have that injury a little bit, you want to try it out, see what you can do and what you can\u2019t do. I think it\u2019s just a mindset that once you get over that and get your hands and head on the same page, that it\u2019s gonna come. But it\u2019s hard to practice that. It\u2019s got to be coming in games. You gotta get that game feeling, game speed. So it\u2019s gonna take a little bit of time, but I\u2019ll use the games well and hopefully it\u2019ll go faster than I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hardest part of the Wild getting off to a tough start with Zuccarello out of the lineup was that he wasn\u2019t able to help or really speak up in the locker room. He reminds everyone, though, that in 2014, when he and the Rangers went to the Stanley Cup Final, New York got off to a 3-7 start.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there\u2019s some tweaks here and there, and it can turn things around pretty quick,\u201d he said. \u201cThe hardest thing is when you get into a major spiral, so everyone\u2019s got to calm down, you know, have some fun. The only thing that can turn things around is to enjoy coming into the rink, enjoy the challenges that we have. If we do, we can turn this around.\u201d<\/p>\n
For that to happen, Kaprizov and Zuccarello will need to rediscover their uncanny chemistry. Kaprizov, Zuccarello admitted, is not happy with the start of the season.<\/p>\n
In 18 games, Kaprizov is tied for 14th in the NHL with 22 points and tied for 15th with 10 goals. At five-on-five, his expected goals of 2.5 per 60 minutes is fourth-lowest on the Wild, and his 2.75 expected goals against per 60 minutes is eighth-highest and well above his career average of 2.19.<\/p>\n
During Tuesday\u2019s overtime loss to San Jose, a game in which Zuccarello was checked off the puck before the overtime winner, the Kaprizov-Marco Rossi-Zuccarello line was out-attempted 17-3 at five-on-five.<\/p>\n
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