Jason Zucker hopes to reach 30 goals for Wild this season

CALGARY – His salary escalated, and the future became clearer.

But signing a five-year, $27.5 million contract last July also changed how winger Jason Zucker perceived his role on the Wild.

"You're now a $5 million guy, and people talk about it that way — 'You're a $5 million guy,' " Zucker said. "It's now expected. It's no longer, 'He played well.' If you don't, it's, 'Why aren't you?' "

He felt pressure to perform before, but never this much — never amid a commitment that positions him as a cornerstone on the roster.

And although this is new terrain for the 26-year-old, he isn't afraid of it.

Zucker is embracing the challenge because being a go-to scorer is the calling card he's striving to attach to his career.

"I love it," he said. "I love it because I want to be a guy that's relied on. I want to be a guy that the team looks to when they need a goal or when they need a big play. I want to be that guy."

After scoring three times in the past four games, including the game-winner in the slump-busting 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and the tying goal in the third period last Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Zucker boasts nine on the season and is on pace to approach 30 — an attainable plateau in his mind.

"I feel like a 30-goal scorer," Zucker said.

That target, however, isn't the only one that fuels him.

While goals might be the most obvious measure of his effectiveness, Zucker can also judge his contributions based off shots and chances. And that's an area his line with center Eric Staal and winger Mikael Granlund is thriving in recently.

Over the past five games, the Wild has had a whopping 49 scoring chances when those three have been on the ice, according to NaturalStatTrick.com; 22 have been high-danger scoring chances.

"The amount of Grade-As we generate, we consistently play like that and create opportunities, he's going to score," Staal said. "It's just the reality of it. The way Granny's been dishing right now, we're getting great looks. You just want to stay with it and confident and keep playing, and he'll do that."

After all, delivering that boost to the Wild is the standard Zucker holds himself to every time he plays.

"[Coach] Bruce [Boudreau] can put me on video in front of the whole team and yell at me for five days, and I'm harder on myself than he is," Zucker said. "I can guarantee you."

In between games, Zucker studies his shifts over and over.

Even on plays that pass his eye test, he questions his decisionmaking and compares what he did to what "the best players in the world are doing" to determine how he can improve.

How often Zucker is rewarded with goals for this work on his craft is under a microscope. Such is the nature of being one of the highest-paid players on the team under contract for longer than most.

But it's a process Zucker is glad to be experiencing in Minnesota.