Fenton makes wild comparison: Zuccarello 'like a lizard' with his stick

Paul Fenton must've caught an interesting reptile documentary on the WildLife Channel recently.

The Minnesota Wild general manager gave an interesting analogy when discussing the club's newest free-agent acquisition, Mats Zuccarello.

"One of the top playmakers in the league, if you watch the way that he plays and dissects the offensive zone in particular," Fenton said Monday. "I told him when I was talking to him that he's like a lizard, the way a lizard takes his tongue and sticks it as far as it does and retrieves what it was trying to do.

"When you look at Mats, he's not the tallest in stature, but he uses an incredibly long stick and he reaches into piles, comes out with things, and most of the time, guys would be awkward with a stick that is as long as he uses, but he's so natural, fluid, smooth, he comes out with things and he's able to make plays."

At five-foot-eight, Zuccarello is one of the smallest players in the league, but he's known for using a comically long stick that's taller than he is; generally, the average stick comes up to a player's chin.

Fenton has only been Minnesota's GM for just over a year, but this isn't the first time he's made headlines for saying exactly what's on his mind. Back in February, he said he found himself "crying like a baby" when trying to sleep at night due to the team's struggles.