The LA Kings have signed forward Mats Zuccarello to a one-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $1,000,000, and up to an additional $5,500,000 in performance bonuses, through the 2026-27 season.
Zuccarello, 38, skated in 59 games for the Minnesota Wild in the 2025-26 campaign, recording 15 goals and 54 points (15-39=54) as part of his fifth consecutive 50-point season, the ninth of his career, with six power-play goals, five game-winning goals and a time-on-ice per game (TOI/GP) average of 18:39 minutes. Zuccarello added nine points (2-7=9) in eight Stanley Cup Playoff contests.
A native of Oslo, Norway, Zuccarello joins the Kings as a veteran of 936 career regular-season NHL games across 16 seasons between the Minnesota Wild (2019-26), Dallas Stars (2018-19) and New York Rangers (2010-19). Zuccarello has accumulated 232 goals and 744 points (232-512=744) with 57 power-play goals, 40 game-winning goals, 2,045 shots, 805 hits, 614 blocked shots and a cumulative +48 rating. The 5-8, 180-pound forward’s best NHL season came in the 2021-22 campaign with Minnesota where he posted 24 goals as part of his first 70-point season (24-55=79), placing third in team scoring. Among active undrafted skaters, Zuccarello’s 744 points and 232 goals rank second and third, respectively, with Kings forward Artemi Panarin pacing both categories. Zuccarello is the only undrafted skater in the League to have 900 or more points while skating in at least 700 regular-season games. He has 21 goals and 67 points (21-46=67) in 110 career Stanely Cup Playoff outings.
Prior to joining the NHL ranks full-time, Zuccarello recorded 25 goals and 65 points (25-40=65) in two seasons (2010-12) with the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL), including 36 points (12-24=36) in 37 games in 2011-12 to earn AHL All-Star Team honors. Zuccarello played three seasons of professional hockey in Europe, appearing in two campaigns (2008-10) with MoDo Hockey of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and one with Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Russia’s top professional hockey league.
Internationally, Zuccarello has represented Norway in multiple International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournaments, including two Olympic Winter Games (2010, 2014), five Men’s World Championships (2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2024), one Men’s World Junior Championship (2006) and one Under-18 Men’s World Championship (2004). Zuccarello also played in the NHL’s 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
