Jason Zucker would be a sledgehammer on the fourth line
If the likes of Christian Fischer and David Perron leave in free agency, someone needs to step in and become a hard-hitting forward for a team that needs a little more physicality next season. In a previous article, I spoke about how Brandon Duhaime could step in and be that player, but Jason Zucker is an older player who wouldn’t make a bad consolation.
Zucker wasn’t as physical this past season with the Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators, but if he can be the player who landed 197 hits in 2022-23 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Red Wings will have struck gold. They have the scorers, and their blue line will get better, but they may need a replacement for Fischer and Perron, and few make for a better stopgap than a seasoned veteran like Zucker.
But Zucker isn’t just a hitter, and it’s another reason he’s on this list. If the Red Wings want someone with surprising scoring potential, he’s another good option. Not only did Zucker land nearly 200 body checks during his final season in the Steel City, but he also scored 27 times and finished the year with an admirable 13.7 shooting percentage.
He found the net five times in 18 regular season games with the Predators, so there is a depth scoring option there, along with a few others who weren’t traded this past season.