Mats Zuccarello is on the verge of returning to the Rangers, and his former teammates all responded similarly to that news at Monday’s practice in Greenburgh.
 
“That’d be great,” Blueshirts defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “He’s a highly skilled player, familiar with the team and coaching staff, so it’s not going to take hopefully too long to adjust again. He’s played in the league and had some success in the league.
 
“Unfortunately (Zuccarello) had a couple injuries here (the last couple years),” McDonagh continued. “But he’s got a lot of skill and he’s a real positive guy in the locker room, too. Everybody gets along with him. So I think if the news is true, guys will be excited.”

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Representatives for Zuccarello, the 25-year-old diminutive Norwegian playmaker, and the Rangers have the terms of a deal in place, but they are still working on the logistics of Zuccarello’s eligibility to return to the NHL from the KHL.
 
Zuccarello recently completed the first season of his two-year contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL in Russia. That club must release him before he can sign a contract with the Rangers, the only NHL team for which he ever has played.
 
The shifty, 5-7, 179-pound left wing played 52 games for the Rangers in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, but he was relegated to 73 games in the AHL during those two seasons and also missed time due to injury.

This past season with Metallurg, Zuccarello scored 11 goals with 17 assists in 44 regular season games, including three power play goals. He added two goals and two assists in seven playoff games. 
In the past, the creative Zuccarello has helped the Rangers’ power play, which often becomes stagnant. He had eight goals and 18 assists during his time in New York.
 
“I think our power play was good last game,” defenseman Michael Del Zotto said. “We didn’t score but I thought we had some quality looks, we moved the puck around. But bringing a player in with his skill hopefully not only helps us with the power play but with five-on-five as well. It’s no secret we’re struggling to score goals here, so hopefully he comes in and brings a little bit of life to the room here and keeps us positive and helps us with a little bit of scoring."

Funny enough, Rangers coach John Tortorella refused to talk about potentially adding Zuccarello despite being prompted multiple times.
 
First he was asked what Zuccarello could add.
 
“Well you guys know Zucc, but I have no information about what’s going on,” Tortorella said. “I really don’t.”
 
Then Tortorella was questioned about Zuccarello’s improvement last spring before getting injured.
 
“I don’t have any information on Zucc; he’s not on our team right now,” Tortorella said. “So I just don’t. I don’t know what’s going on with him. There’s no sense in me talking about Zucc if he’s not here. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I just don’t have any information on it.
 
Tortorella’s press conferences should become even more interesting if Zuccarello rejoins the Rangers, since if he does sign, the same Norwegian media contingent that followed Zuccarello during his previous Ranger call-ups likely would be back on the Ranger beat. They typically ask specifically about Zuccarello after games, when Tortorella often bristles discussing individual player performances.
 
Have a question about the Blueshirts or a comment? Find Pat on Twitter at @NYDNRangers.