On and off the ice, Buffalo's veteran winger has led the way.
In signing Jason Zucker to a one-year contract on July 1, 2024, the Buffalo Sabres felt they’d both bolstered their forward depth and filled a void of veteran leadership.
Forty-three games into the 2024-25 season, Zucker’s on- and off-ice contributions have exceeded all expectations.
To start, the winger has proven to be one of Buffalo’s most dependable scorers. His 15 goals trail only Tage Thompson’s 19, while his 31 points are tied with Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin for third most on the team.
Early on, Zucker joined Ryan McLeod and Jordan Greenway on an effective third line. Lately, he’s been a mainstay in the Sabres’ top forward trio – first with Thompson and Tuch, but more recently with Dylan Cozens at center and Thompson at right wing.
“He just plays a really direct style of game,” Thompson said of Zucker. “For us, it’s good just to simplify things. I think when you do that, it gets the rest of the team playing the game the right way. And from there, you get some more offense, create some more looks after you wear the other team down.”
That direct style is highlighted by a willingness – eagerness, even – to occupy the net-front area. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has implored his team to get to the middle of the ice this season, especially when scoring has dried up, but that’s rarely been a problem for Zucker and his linemates.
“If you want to score goals, you’ve got to get to the net,” Thompson said. “When you’re watching the games, that’s where he is 90 percent of the time. For me, playing on the line with him, it’s pretty easy – just trying to deliver pucks to the net or look for him back post. He’s got a great finishing ability, so usually if you put it there, he’s gonna bury a rebound.”
As detailed in a recent practice report, Zucker has been one of the NHL’s most dangerous close-range scorers; his 13 goals from high-danger areas are tied for ninth most in the league. NHL Edge defines “high-danger” as within 29 feet from the center of the goal – essentially the crease and the ice directly in front of it.
Zucker’s net-front residence has yielded offense at both 5-on-5 and on a resurgent Buffalo power play. Since Dec. 21, with Zucker a regular on the top unit, the Sabres have gone 9-for-28 (32 percent) with the man advantage, seventh best in the NHL during that span.
Whereas Ruff frequently tinkered with his units in search of answers during the power play’s mid-December struggles, he’s lately stuck with the same, productive first unit: Zucker down low, Thompson the mobile bumper, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka on the flanks, Dahlin at the point.
“It helps knowing the guys you’re going out with every shift,” Zucker said. “For us, it’s about building that chemistry and making sure that we’re talking a lot through everything and keep growing.”
Since Dec. 21, Zucker leads the Sabres with five power-play goals. Thompson has two and Quinn and Peterka have one apiece. With Zucker and co. setting the standard, Buffalo’s second unit looks to follow suit with some results of its own.
“He’s elite at finding open space and finding little pockets [where] they’ve kind of been exposing other teams,” said Zach Benson, the second unit’s net-front forward. “That’s a big piece to our power play, Zuck just finding that open space and allowing guys like [Thompson] and Dahls to find him when he’s lost coverage.”
The 19-year-old Benson hasn’t worked 1-on-1 with Zucker to learn his power-play ways, but he has studied the veteran's example.
“For me, it’s just watching him and doing stuff on my own,” Benson said. “After I watch him in a game, I like to go out there, whether it’s practice or before, and just work on little things that he excels at already. Want to raise my level there, around that blue paint.”
“He’s just someone to follow,” Thompson added. “I think his effort has been there every night – practice and games.”
Zucker, a second-round pick by Minnesota in 2010, turns 33 on Thursday. In his 14th NHL season, the oldest skater on a youthful Sabres roster has served as not just an example worth following, but also a voice worth listening to.
“Just good to have that voice in the locker room,” Thompson said. “A steady-state kind of guy, doesn’t get too high or too low, and then he just shows up to the rink and does work.”
“How he’s fit in with the group and his leadership away from the ice has been excellent,” Ruff said. “He’s a guy that a lot of the guys look to when there’s opportunities to discuss a play or how the games have gone.”
Beginning Nov. 27, the games went poorly for an entire month. Zucker’s experience – which includes similar rough patches – proved especially valuable as the Sabres battled through their 13-game winless streak.
“This was one of the first ones we’ve gone through that I felt like we actually played really well for a lot of games in that stretch,” Zucker said. “There were plenty in it we were terrible, too, but there were a lot of games that we actually played some good hockey, and I think that was a little bit unique. … You just try to pull from different experiences you’ve had and hopefully it helps you get out of it.”
“He’s been through it all, and he’s an important piece to our group,” Benson said.
Zucker scored a power-play goal Dec. 23 on Long Island as Buffalo snapped the winless streak. That night began a six-game stretch in which he recorded seven goals and two assists. And he’s currently on pace to score 28 goals, which would be his second most in a season behind his career-high 33 in 2017-18.
Going forward, the Sabres aim to re-establish good habits, build a winning streak and chip away at their nine-point deficit in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Whatever they accomplish, Zucker figures to be right in the middle of it – he certainly was in the first half.
