Wild prospects camp: Zucker learning about NHL this week

Forward Jason Zucker's goals at Wild development camp this week were pretty simple: "Just have fun and be a little more educated when I leave. Know the ropes in the NHL a little bit more and how it operates."

Zucker, who will be a sophomore at Denver this season, was a second round pick of the Wild in the 2010 NHL draft. He was the WCHA rookie of the year last season when he had 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points in 40 games.

This is his second Wild prospects camp. He went to his first last year after being drafted.

"Obviously, being here one year you know a little bit more what to expect, not 100 percent. I was able to prepare a little bit differently, but a little bit better."

Even if he makes a good impression at camp, though, Zucker is planning on returning to the Pioneers.

"I have already talked to Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr and everybody," he said, referring to the Wild's general manager and assistant general manager. "And that [returning to college] is the unanimous decision. Obviously, we all thought I could improve more and become a better player through another year under coach [George] Gwozdecky."

Zucker, who is from Las Vegas, Nevada, said he was very happy with his first season of college hockey. "I thought I played great. The coaching staff thought I played well as well. It was good for me to get that first year under my belt."

Zucker's Pioneers were expected to be one of the WCHA favorites for the 2011-12 season, but then goalie Sam Brittain, a sophomore-to-be, had surgery on his left knee for a torn ACL.

He injured the knee in DU's 3-2, double-overtime loss to North Dakota in the championship game of the Final Five. Brittain still played two NCAA tournament games with the injury, finishing with a 19-9-5 record, a 2.28 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

Brittain is expected to be able to play sometime betweem mid-Decemeber and mid-February.

"Sam is a great goalie, obviously," Zucker said, "but we have a very capable Adam Murray [a backup last season] and we have a goalie from Finland coming in. He will be a good goalie as well with our recruiting. I am not worried about [our goalie situation] at all. We will do fine."

Asked about DU's new conference -- the Pioneers and five other teams will be in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference starting in 2013-14 -- he said his school did what it had to do.