Jason Alan Zucker (born January 16, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey left winger for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Zucker played in the 2010 World Juniors for Team USA, winning a gold medal. He was also a member of Team USA's bronze medal-winning team at the 2011 World Juniors. Playing for the University of Denver in 2010–11, he was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie of the Year. He was drafted in the second round (59th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild.
Early life
Zucker was born in Newport Beach, California, and is Jewish. His mother, Natalie Zucker, is a former competitive figure skater, and his father, Scott Zucker, is a general contractor who built ice rinks and roller rinks when Jason was young. He has two older brothers, Evan and Adam, and a younger sister, Kimmie, and brother, Cameron.
When he was two months old, Zucker and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. As a youth, he played in the 2004 and 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Los Angeles. He moved to Plymouth, Michigan, when he was 15 so he could play with the Compuware AAA Minor Midget Team, and finally to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for two years.
Zucker attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Zucker has multiple tattoos: on his back, "USA" (a nod to his playing for the national team); on his chest, "Game Time" (in memory of his best friend, Nick Scheafer, who died in 2010 at the age of 19 in a car accident); and on his left arm, written in Hebrew, "In pursuit of perfection" (in honor of his Jewish heritage). In 2016, he got a young cancer patient's name, Tucker, who he met at Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night, tattooed onto his wrist, along with the words "shoot more" in memory of the boy who died on July 2, 2016.
Playing career
Early career
Zucker played in the 2009 World Juniors and 2010 World Juniors for Team USA, and won a gold medal in 2010. He was also a member of Team USA's bronze medal-winning team at the 2011 World Juniors.
Playing for the University of Denver in 2010–11, he was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and 2nd All-Star Team. In his two seasons playing for Denver, he had 45 goals and 91 points in 78 games. He turned pro following the 2011–12 season.
Professional career
Minnesota Wild
Zucker was drafted by the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the second round (59th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft. He was the first Nevada-raised draft pick (and, subsequently, player) in NHL history. Zucker signed his entry-level contract with the Wild on March 27, 2012. He made his NHL debut in a victory against the Florida Panthers on March 29, 2012. He scored his first NHL goal against Petr Mrázek on February 17, 2013, in a Wild win over the Detroit Red Wings.
The lockout-shortened 2012–13 NHL season saw Zucker split time between the Minnesota Wild and the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team after leading the Aeros in scoring with 24 goals and 50 points in 55 games. He appeared in 20 regular season games with Minnesota, and played mostly on the team's second line alongside Matt Cullen and Devin Setoguchi. On May 5, 2013, Zucker scored at 2:15 of the extra period to give the Wild a 3–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, to pull within 2–1 in the Western Conference quarterfinal series. However, the Blackhawks eliminated the Wild in five games.
On March 26, 2014, Zucker underwent successful surgery on his left quadriceps to repair a tendon. He missed the remainder of the 2013–14 season, but was ready for the start of the 2014–15 campaign. In 2014–15 he scored 21 goals in 51 games, and was tenth in the NHL with a 16.9% shooting percentage. On October 25, 2015, he set a Wild team record by scoring 10 seconds into a 5–4 win against the Winnipeg Jets (Zucker later tied his own record in a game against the Colorado Avalanche in April 2017). The only other NHL players who have scored within the first 10 seconds of two different games are Montreal's Bobby Rousseau (once in 1962–63, and once in 1965–66) and Yvan Cournoyer (both in 1973–74).
In 2015–16 he played in a career-high 71 games, and had 13 goals and 10 assists. In June 2016, the Wild re-signed him to a two-year, $4 million contract. During the 2016–17 season, Zucker set new career highs once again by playing in 79 games while recording 22 goals and 25 assists for 47 points. He finished tied for sixth in team scoring.