Jason Zucker was not finishing fifth in points this season on the Sabres. Heck, Jason Zucker wasn’t even finishing in the top 10. Back in July 2024, that was my mindset. There’s no way the aging Jason Zucker was going to rediscover what made him a solid player for most of his career in Buffalo, of all places.
Until it did. Jason Zucker, in his age-33 season, ended the year with 53 points, 21 goals, and a plus-4. Yeah, this is why I don’t try to see the future. It doesn’t really work when you’re looking at trends, stats, and other indicators. Or, at least that’s what I was told.
I use those metrics to make sense of and then write about them, but since they’ve betrayed me, I have to ask: What happened to the days of rolling with vibes?
Honestly, I’m often right more than I am wrong by going the old-school method, so I should’ve known better. Anyway, I thought I’d end up giving Zucker something reminiscent of my overall grade in math back in high school, but instead, he’s grading a lot higher than that.
Grade: A - Yeah, I’ve been handing out a lot of A’s lately, but so far, it’s been high points producers like Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin on the card, so I’ll be getting more critical soon enough. But still, if anyone who wore a blue and gold sweater deserves an all-out A, it’s Zucker.
Jason Zucker’s 2024-25 season can be described as a Renaissance
I’ve been listening to a lot of Blackmore’s Night lately, and I can’t get the Neo Renaissance duo’s music out of my mind when I describe Zucker’s season. His 53 points, 21 goals, and plus-4 were good enough, but when you factor in 11 power play goals for a team that didn’t fare so well on the man advantage, it spiked Zucker’s value in Buffalo this past season.
He wasn’t always keen to get in front of shots, posting just 22 blocks, but he was still relatively physical with 68 body checks. He also logged primarily top-six minutes, 16:00 minutes of average total ice time, to be exact, so maybe he was that top-six scorer I kept complaining about the Sabres lacking for about half the season.
I was so impressed with Zucker that I even speculated that general manager Kevyn Adams should go out and find another Zucker-like player this offseason. Doing so will send shockwaves throughout the organization, and maybe that player will finally fuel the Blue and Gold with the spark they need to finally bust through this way-too-old drought.
What will Jason Zucker give the Sabres in 2025-26?
Often, I’m not as keen on players heading into their age-34 seasons, but after the kind of season Jason Zucker had, I’m more than confident that he’ll at least come close to his 2024-25 numbers. Still, if he remains as productive as he was on the power play next season, that alone will maintain his value.
Even so, if someone like Jiri Kulich or Zach Benson gets hot and Zucker’s productivity falls, we can still call it a win. Yet right now, I don’t see Zucker backtracking much from his 2024-25 season unless he gives me a reason to.