Tim Benz: Sorting through Jason Zucker trade and his Penguins debut

For almost two days now, I’ve been trying to find my bottom-line stance on the Penguins’ decision to acquire Minnesota Wild winger Jason Zucker.

And after seeing him in black and gold for about 62 minutes Tuesday night in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, I’m still right where I was when the news broke Monday night.

There isn’t a bottom line to be found.

But there are a bunch of bullet points that paint the bigger picture.

• I like the player. I don’t love him.

Zucker is said to be fast and has an assertive demeanor with vision enough to be a solid offensive player.

And a positive locker room guy.

Zucker totaled 33 goals in a 2017 contract year. Then the total dipped to 21 last season and 14 in 45 games this year — just two since Dec. 14, thanks in part to injury.

“He’s got a ton of speed,” captain Sidney Crosby said after the game. “I think he fits the way we play as a group.

“He creates a lot of loose pucks. The more he gets comfortable, the better it is going to be.”

General manager Jim Rutherford seems to love Zucker. He tried acquiring him last summer for Phil Kessel. So let’s hope this isn’t simply the culmination of confirmation bias on his part.

In other words, we may need to question if Rutherford is still seeing all the good in Zucker from July, despite a season which, at times, featured him on the fourth line of a poor Minnesota team.

• I wasn’t thrilled with giving up prospect defenseman Calen Addison and a first-round pick. But I’m never opposed to the Penguins going for it all while the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin window is open.

“It’s huge,” defenseman Kris Letang said Tuesday. “Our management did a big push to get him. He’s a really good player to have on our side.”

• I don’t think acquiring Zucker makes the Penguins better than the Lightning, Washington Capitals or Boston Bruins. But it gets them closer.

Zucker isn’t going to make up for the loss of Jake Guentzel. But it’ll soften the blow and offset any natural regression or injury surrounding Bryan Rust.

“He brings a speed game,” head coach Mike Sullivan said before the game. “He brings an offensive dimension. He has a defensive conscience as well. He’s a versatile player. He’s a competitive guy. So we think he has a lot of the attributes that we value in our players to help us become the team we are trying to become.”

• The safest bet of the deal is that the Penguins are thrilled to be free of Alex Galchenyuk’s $4.9 million contract.

• The best part of the deal could be that Zucker is under contract for three years to come. The worst part of the deal, well, could be that Zucker is under contract for three years to come.

At a cap hit of $5.5 million, if he blends well with the team, that contract could be good value for a top-six winger.

If he doesn’t, it’ll be an albatross and hard to move unless someone on his approved trade list wants him or Seattle will take him in the expansion draft.

I know everybody loves to heap praise on Rutherford for his ability to get out from under acquisitions he regretted.

It’d just be nice if he didn’t have to keep reminding us how good he is at doing it.

• I like that Zucker’s best attribute is that he could heighten what the Penguins already do well.

Adding Zucker’s straight-ahead speed and tenacity to this roster that already has those attributes feels like when Rutherford added the likes of Carl Hagelin, Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz to a team that could already skate.

“I think it’s similar,” said Rust. “Anytime you can add another threat, it just makes our team that much more dangerous.

“I think he is going to fit in nicely.”

• I’m not going to believe that he’ll be a perfect fit with Crosby just because I’m told, conceptually, that it should work.

I’ve heard that one too many times. We all thought Jarome Iginla, James Neal and Phil Kessel were brought here to play with Crosby, too.

Until they didn’t.

But after one game, Zucker seems optimistic.

“He’s an unbelievable player,” Zucker said of Crosby. “A humble guy on the bench. Talking through some things. Tonight was a bit of a whirlwind. Just trying to play the game. I think it’ll be a little bit better next game.”

• OK, maybe now that I’ve talked myself through it.

What the Penguins did made sense. Zucker is a good fit.

Rutherford and Sullivan just better be right about the actual player.

The theory of Zucker has been good for six months. The reality of the player better be just as good for the next four.