The forward, who was limited to 41 games last season because of a number of injuries, is skating again and playing in Da Beauty League, a 4-on-4 summer hockey league for NHL, American Hockey League and NCAA Division I players living in Minnesota.
"I'm excited," the 30-year-old said after playing his first game Wednesday. "It's been really slow for me, but it's been really good. It's nice to be back skating again, and I'm just excited to get healthy and be ready to have a healthy season this year."
Zucker played the first 30 games of 2021-22, but issues began in January when he missed seven games because of a lower-body injury. He returned Jan. 17 but didn't feel right and had core-muscle surgery Jan. 25. That kept him out until March 31, but in his first game back, he sustained a lower-body injury that kept him out three games. Then he sustained another lower-body injury April 25 that kept him out the final regular-season game and the first two games of Pittsburgh's seven-game loss to the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I was chasing the whole year, and it's unfortunate," said Zucker, who had 17 points (nine goals, eight assists), his fewest in a season since 2013-14. "But everyone goes through that at some point in their career, and for me it just happened to be last year. So I'm excited to get that out of the way. It's a contract year for me, so I'm coming ready to play."
Zucker is entering the final season of a five-year, $27.5 million contract ($5.5 million average annual value) he signed with the Minnesota Wild on July 25, 2018. He was traded to the Penguins on Feb. 10, 2020.