Mats Zuccarello not retiring, will he stay with the Wild?

The Minnesota Wild season has come to an end, losing in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Colorado Avalanche. Mats Zuccarello voiced his feelings after the collapse in Game 5 against the Avalanche.

Now, Zuccarello is speaking out about his future, meeting with the media, per Michael Russo of The Athletic.

“Zuccarello wants to play a couple more years. Hopes it’s here but understands it’ll be up to the Wild, too,” Russo posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Zuccarello is now 38 years old and will be turning 39 prior to the start of next season. He has just finished the second year of a two-year extension he signed with the team in 2023, which took effect for the 2024-25 campaign. Still, there are some issues with trying to re-sign Zuccarello. The first is Kirill Kaprizov’s new extension, which takes effect next season, bumping his pay from $9 million to $17 million. Russo reminded Zuccarello of that fact.

“He gives me cash,” Zuccarello joked.

Then, there is the future of Quinn Hughes. Hughes is open to signing an extension with the Wild, but that will also take up significant cap space.

“I better sign before he takes the rest of it,” The Wild forward said about the possibility of a Hughes extension.

The Wild have just $11.9 million in cap space for next season. Meanwhile, the Wild have multiple players they need to extend contracts to. Bobby Brink is a restricted free agent, as is Carson Lambos, David Spacek, and Daemon Hunt. Further, the team has 11 other unrestricted free agents. Tying up money in a 39-year-old may not be high on the list of priorities for the Wild this offseason.

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