8. Mats Zuccarello, Forward
Who doesn’t love the 5’7 left wing from Norway?
Zuccarello had an outstanding regular season and earned a contract extension last March. The best part of this deal is that it was worth $18 million over four years, with Zuccarello earning $4.5 million a year.
He had 61 points during the regular season, 26 of them being goals. Yet again, it was during the playoffs where Zuccarello’s play suffered a great deal.
But for the play that he put in for 81 games of the regular season, his contract is worth it due to the fact that it is so small compared to the some of the other players. Not only that, but Zuccarello produced much more than the others did.
Zuccarello out scored Nash, Stepan, and Brassard during the year and proved he was worth the money.
The Norwegian’s deal keeps him in New York until 2018-19, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was another deal for him after that, as long as he remains consistent.
Here is what Zuccarello looks like on PSAM:
Zuccarello’s stats per 60 minutes far exceeds others, and his Corsi is similar to them as well.
He also has good scoring chances, both at the regular and high level.
