Depending on your outlook, this could be good news or bad news for the Rangers.
Mats Zuccarello sounds like he wants to remain in Dallas, which — provided the Stars, too, want him back — would give the Rangers the Stars’ 2020 first-round pick. But it means the popular forward wouldn’t be returning to Broadway.
“This is my team now. We’ll see what’s going on,” he told Dallas reporters Thursday, two days after the Stars were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 7 by the Blues. “I’m kind of a guy when someone believes in you and wants you, I usually like that. We’ll see.”
The Stars believed in him, and he justified that belief with 11 points in 13 playoff games.
The Rangers traded the 31-year-old in late February for two draft picks — a second-rounder in 2019 and a third-rounder in 2020 that becomes a first-rounder if Dallas re-signs the 31-year-old Norwegian.
Of course, other teams could swoop in, too. But if Zuccarello has his way, it appears the Rangers would have a first-rounder and not their fan favorite.