Zuccarello Is Near 1,000 Games and Still Not Calling It

Mats Zuccarello is closing in on 1,000 NHL games, which is usually the point where the retirement chatter starts circling like a scout at a warmup. Instead, he is not ready to close the book, and that matters because players with his skill set tend to age differently than the league expects. Minnesota knows exactly what it has in him, and the bigger question is how long he keeps giving them that steady, veteran edge.