Jason Zucker

Jason Alan Zucker (born January 16, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey player who is a left winger for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Zucker played in the 2010 World Juniors for the United States team, winning a gold medal. He was also a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2011 World Juniors. Playing for the University of Denver in 2010–11, he was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie of the Year. He was drafted in the second round (59th overall) of the 2010 NHL entry draft by the Minnesota Wild.

Early life Zucker was born in Newport Beach, California, and is Jewish. His mother, Natalie Zucker, is a former competitive figure skater, and his father, Scott Zucker, is a general contractor who built ice rinks and roller rinks when Jason was young. He has two older brothers, Evan and Adam, and a younger sister, Kimmie, and brother, Cameron.

When he was two months old, Zucker and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. As a youth, he played in the 2004 and 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Los Angeles. He moved to Plymouth, Michigan, when he was 15 so he could play with the Compuware AAA Minor Midget Team, and finally to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for two years. Zucker attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Zucker has multiple tattoos: on his back, "USA" (a nod to his playing for the national team); on his chest, "Game Time" (in memory of his best friend, Nick Scheafer, who died in 2010 at the age of 19 in a car accident); and on his left arm, written in Hebrew, "In pursuit of perfection" (in honor of his Jewish heritage). In 2016, he got a young cancer patient's name, Tucker, who he met at Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night, tattooed onto his wrist, along with the words "shoot more" in memory of the boy who died on July 2, 2016.

Playing career

College career Playing for the University of Denver in 2010–11, he was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and 2nd All-Star Team. In his two seasons playing for Denver, he had 45 goals and 91 points in 78 games. He turned pro following the 2011–12 season. Zucker signed his entry-level contract with the Wild on March 27, 2012. He made his NHL debut in a victory against the Florida Panthers on March 29, 2012. The 2012–13 NHL season was delayed by the 2012–13 NHL lockout and Zucker was assigned to Minnesota's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Houston Aeros, where he registered 50 points in 55 games. He played in the 2013 AHL All-Star Classic, representing the Aeros. Zucker was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team after leading the Aeros in scoring with 24 goals.

Zucker was recalled by Minnesota He scored his first NHL goal against Petr Mrázek on February 17, 2013, in a Wild win over the Detroit Red Wings. On May 5, 2013, Zucker scored at 2:15 of the extra period to give the Wild a 3–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, to pull within 2–1 in the Western Conference quarterfinal series. However, the Blackhawks eliminated the Wild in five games.

On March 26, 2014, Zucker underwent successful surgery on his left quadriceps to repair a tendon. He missed the remainder of the 2013–14 season, but was ready for the start of the 2014–15 campaign. In 2014–15 he scored 21 goals in 51 games, and was tenth in the NHL with a 16.9% shooting percentage. On October 25, 2015, he set a Wild team record by scoring 10 seconds into a 5–4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets (Zucker later tied his own record in a game against the Colorado Avalanche in April 2017). The only other NHL players who have scored within the first 10 seconds of two different games are Montreal's Bobby Rousseau (once in 1962–63, and once in 1965–66) and Yvan Cournoyer (both in 1973–74).

In 2015–16 he played in a career-high 71 games, and had 13 goals and 10 assists. In June 2016, the Wild re-signed him to a two-year, $4 million contract. During the 2016–17 season, Zucker set new career highs once again by playing in 79 games while recording 22 goals and 25 assists for 47 points. He finished tied for sixth in team scoring. Zucker recorded his first NHL hat-trick on November 9, 2017, against the Montreal Canadiens. On May 2, 2018, Zucker was named a finalist for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, along with P. K. Subban, and the Sedin brothers.

On July 25, 2018, Zucker signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract extension with the Wild. Zucker scored his 100th NHL goal on October 13, 2018, in a home overtime loss against the Carolina Hurricanes. He is the seventh Minnesota Wild player to record 100 goals with the team. Zucker received the 2018–19 King Clancy Memorial Trophy as "the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community."

In his career with the Wild, in 456 NHL games he had 132 goals (fourth on the Wild's all-time list), 111 assists, and 243 points (9th). Zucker was under contract with the Penguins for three years, through the 2022–23 season, for an average annual value of $5.5 million. He made his Penguins debut on February 11 in a 2–1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing on a line with Sidney Crosby. He scored his first two goals in a Penguins uniform against Carey Price in a 4–1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on February 14. Zucker later made his Penguins playoff debut against the Canadiens on August 1 in Game 1 of their first round series. He scored in a Game 2 win for the Penguins to tie the series, but the Canadiens eliminated the Penguins to move on to the next round.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season, Zucker struggled, scoring eight goals and 17 points. In the 2021–22 season, Zucker suffered a number of injuries that limited him to just 32 games before coming back in March. In his first game back, and his first game against his former team, the Minnesota Wild, Zucker was injured again. He finished the season having played just 41 games.

Arizona Coyotes Having concluded his contract with the Penguins, Zucker was signed as a free agent to a one-year, $5.3 million contract with the Arizona Coyotes on July 1, 2023. He made his Coyotes debut in the season-opening shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils. He scored his first goal with Arizona on October 19 on a pass from Matias Maccelli on the power play in a 6–2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. On January 2, 2024, Nick Cousins of the Florida Panthers laid a dangerous check on Zucker's teammate, Juuso Välimäki near the boards. Zucker retaliated by checking Cousins hard into the boards, giving Cousins a concussion. On the play, Zucker received three major penalties and was suspended for three games on January 3 for boarding. In 51 games with Arizona, he had nine goals and 25 points.

Nashville Predators On March 8, 2024, at the NHL trading deadline, Zucker was traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round draft pick. He made his Predators debut on March 9 in a 2–1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He scored his first goal for Nashville on March 13, knocking in a rebound from a Colton Sissons shot in a 4–2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. He registered a multi-goal game on March 28, scoring twice against his former team, the Arizona Coyotes, in an 8–4 loss. In 18 games with the Predators, he recorded five goals and seven points. Nashville made the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs and faced the Vancouver Canucks in the first round. The Predators were eliminated in six games and Zucker scored one goal and three points in the series. Zucker signed a two-year, $9.5 million contract extension with the Sabres on March 7, 2025.

International play

Zucker played for the United States junior team in the 2009 World Juniors and 2010 World Juniors, winning a gold medal in 2010. He was also a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2011 World Juniors.

Personal life Zucker married Minneapolis-based sports and entertainment journalist and television personality Carly Aplin in mid 2016. She is a television host for the Minnesota Timberwolves Entertainment Network (TEN) and a reporter for CBS Sports and Fox Sports North, who in February 2018 premiered a sports talk radio show named "Overtime with Carly Zucker" on KFAN 100.3 FM. Jason and Carly have a son and a daughter together.

Zucker is Jewish, though not religious. He did not have a bar mitzvah celebration because he never wanted to miss hockey; however, he does celebrate Hanukkah.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2008–09 U.S. NTDP U17 USDP 12 8 6 14 — — — — — 2008–09 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 12 2 6 8 8 — — — — — 2008–09 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 36 11 4 15 55 — — — — — 2009–10 U.S. NTDP Juniors USHL 22 11 7 18 23 — — — — — 2009–10 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 38 18 17 35 24 — — — — — 2010–11 University of Denver WCHA 40 23 22 45 59 — — — — — 2011–12 University of Denver WCHA 38 22 24 46 38 — — — — — 2011–12 Minnesota Wild NHL 6 0 2 2 2 — — — — — 2012–13 Houston Aeros AHL 55 24 26 50 43 1 0 0 0 4 2012–13 Minnesota Wild NHL 20 4 1 5 8 5 1 1 2 0 2013–14 Iowa Wild AHL 22 8 5 13 55 — — — — — 2013–14 Minnesota Wild NHL 21 4 1 5 2 — — — — — 2014–15 Minnesota Wild NHL 51 21 5 26 18 10 2 1 3 22015–16Minnesota WildNHL711310232060222 2016–17 Minnesota Wild NHL 79 22 25 47 30 5 1 0 1 2 2017–18 Minnesota Wild NHL 82 33 31 64 44 5 0 0 0 0 2018–19 Minnesota Wild NHL 81 21 21 42 28 — — — — — 2019–20 Minnesota Wild NHL 45 14 15 29 19 — — — — — 2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 15 6 6 12 2 4 2 0 2 0 2020–21 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 38 9 9 18 21 6 2 1 3 2 2021–22 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 41 8 9 17 15 5 0 2 2 2 2022–23 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 78 27 21 48 47 — — — — — 2023–24 Arizona Coyotes NHL 51 9 16 25 58 — — — — — 2023–24 Nashville Predators NHL 18 5 2 7 23 6 1 2 3 2 2024–25 Buffalo Sabres NHL 73 21 32 53 57 — — — — — 2025–26 Buffalo Sabres NHL 62 24 21 45 23 13 2 2 4 4 NHL totals 832 241 227 468 417 65 11 11 22 16

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2009 United States U17 6 4 3 7 4 2009 United States U18 7 1 5 6 0 2010 United States WJC 7 2 0 2 2 2010 United States U18 7 4 3 7 2 2011 United States WJC 4 1 0 1 0 2012 United States WJC 7th 6 3 4 7 2 Junior totals 37 15 15 30 10

Awards and honors Award Year RefCollege All-WCHA Rookie Team 2010–11 All-WCHA Second Team 2010–11, 2011–12 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 2011–12 WCHA All-Tournament Team 2012 AHL All-Star Game 2013