Wild 2025-26 Report Cards: Mats Zuccarello

The month of August is moving along fast, and for hockey fans that means the NHL season is going to be here before we know it. The Minnesota Wild will have a lot to live up to this coming season after having a strong run cut short, but first we’re going to recap last season with another report card. 

We’re down to the final two report cards, and next up is a player who spent a lot of time on the top line as he was a great match for Kirill Kaprizov. Of course, that player is Mats Zuccarello, but the Wild will have to find another player to fill his void as he signed with the Los Angeles Kings during free agency this offseason. In this article, we’ll take a look at how he did in the regular season as well as the postseason to come up with an overall grade. 

Zuccarello’s Keeping Up 

Mats Zuccarello is going to be 39 years old when this season starts, and he’s not slowing down; at least he’s trying not to. He had to fight through an injury at the start of this past season that took him out for the whole first month of the season, but when he returned, he hit the ground running. His first game was Nov. 7, 2025, and he registered an assist for his first point of the season. 

He went on to play 59 games and scored 15 goals plus assisted on 39 others for 54 points, the same as the season prior but with 10 fewer games. Those 54 points earned him third place on the Wild, which was a big jump down from second-place Matt Boldy, who had 85 points. Even after missing a month of the season, Zuccarello was able to amass enough points to land in third. 

It’s no surprise he didn’t register many hits, just 16; he’s more of a skater than a hitter, and although he’s not afraid to throw around his weight, it’s not his style. While he didn’t throw many hits, he wasn’t hesitant to get in front of the puck to block it, but still not a lot, with just 26 blocks. His defense wasn’t very high, which is where his offense made up for it mostly. 

After looking at his stats for the regular season, he earned an A-. His grade may seem high, but he is a little different; he started out injured and rebounded, plus he was a big piece of Kaprizov’s success. Of course they had to play without each other and did well, but they also were pretty strong together. His grade wasn’t lower because of those reasons, but it wasn’t higher because he had room to improve, especially his defense. 

Zuccarello’s Positive Postseason

Just like the regular season, Zuccarello had to fight an injury during the postseason as well; he started their first-round series against the Dallas Stars but then missed the next three games due to an elbow to the head. He did return for the final two games of the series and played in all five games against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round. 

He scored two goals and assisted on seven others for nine points in eight postseason games, which is very strong considering he had to deal with an injury, and four of those points were on the power play. The man advantage was always stronger with Zuccarello on it than when he wasn’t. 

Normally he’s not a big hitter, but in the postseason he found another side to his physicality and threw six hits in those eight games. His blocked shots were okay, not great, not terrible, but okay with four blocks. Obviously the team could’ve used more, but since he was injured during the postseason, any production was a bonus. 

He earned an A- for his efforts in the postseason as well. While he had a great showing in terms of offense, he really struggled with his defense, which is why it wasn’t higher. However, it also wasn’t lower because of his offensive efforts of nine points in eight games, as well as his physical efforts. 

Zuccarello’s Overall Grade

Zuccarello earned an A- for both his efforts in the regular season and the playoffs, which means his overall grade is an A-. He had solid offense all season even after dealing with multiple injuries that sidelined him and could’ve affected how well he played. Like mentioned above, his grade wasn’t higher because although his offense was good, his defense needed to be better. 

He won’t have a chance to improve on his grade this next season with the Wild, but he will have an opportunity to show his skills with the Kings. He’ll find an old teammate in Kevin Fiala, and it would be interesting to see if those two end up on the same line this next season. Regardless, that first meeting between the Wild and Kings will be one to watch as Kaprizov and Zuccarello face off against each other for the first time instead of being inseparable on the same line. Hopefully it goes the Wild’s way, but even if it doesn’t, it’ll be a good game to watch.