I really wanted to write this article two days ago, after Zuccarello had a respectable two-point appearance for the Minnesota Wild’s win over the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 5-1. It would have been Nostradamic to highlight his performance a night before he joined Kirill Kaprizov and Victor Rask and looked like a Norwegian Gretzky during a late night in San Jose.
Here’s the hot take: I believe that the team’s identity is changing because of three players: Kevin Fiala, Kirill Kaprizov, and the Lizard himself Mats Zuccarello. Wild fans may consider it sacrilege, nay blasphemy, to mention him in the same breath as these two, but the strategic impact that he has on the lineup allows the top-six to engage offensively.