According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker will undergo sports hernia surgery on Thursday. While it’s expected that he’ll be ready for training camp, core surgeries can often have wide variances in recovery time. The Wild will give a timetable after the surgery is complete.
The 25-year old Zucker broke out with Minnesota this season, scoring 22 goals and 47 points while leading the league with a +34 rating. Amazingly, 46 of those points came at even strength where he, Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund formed a dominating trio. One of the reasons the Wild could afford to trade away draft picks at the deadline, Zucker looks like he’ll be an excellent player for the next several years for Minnesota.
On July 1st he will become a candidate for a long-term extension, though the team may wait until they’re confident in his recovery before committing to him. He’ll earn just $2MM next season before becoming a restricted free agent, and would command quite a raise if selling off several of his UFA years. The team also has to worry about extensions this summer for Granlund and Nino Niederreiter, making this quite an important offseason for the Wild.
Having him and his speed on the ice is a game changer.