Arizona Coyotes sign Jason Zucker to one-year, $5.3 million contract

Zucker, 31, was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his five-year contract with a $5.5 million cap hit, one he originally signed with the Minnesota Wild. He sees his salary fall by $200,000, although it’s still well above any salary he had prior to his five-year deal with the Wild. His closest cap comparable for forwards is Bryan Little, who is technically a teammate of his with the Coyotes, but Little hasn’t played a game since the 2019-20 season.

While most of Zucker’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins saw him struggle, he had a return to his previous production in 2022-23 with 27 goals, 21 assists, and 48 points in 78 games. It’s the second-highest point total of his career after his 64-point season in 2017-18 with the Wild, and it’s the first time he’s hit the 40-point mark since the 2019-20 season.

Zucker was a former second-round pick of the Wild in 2010, and spent parts of nine seasons with the Wild to start his career. He was then dealt to the Penguins at the trade deadline in the 2019-20 season, where he spent the past three and a half seasons.

The signing of Zucker is one of a few moves the Coyotes have made to actually utilize their cap space for their roster as opposed to the normal contract graveyard they’ve operated as these past several seasons. They also brought back Troy Stecher in free agency, and made a trade to acquire Sean Durzi from the Los Angeles Kings. The Coyotes still have almost $22 million in cap space with only Matias Maccelli and Jack McBain to sign as restricted free agents, so they’ll certainly look to make a few more additions to at least hit the cap floor, if not add a few more pieces and aim to be competitive next season.