Two seasons ago, it could be argued that New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad was the best player on his team.
In that season, which was the 2022-23 campaign, Zibanejad, 31, finished the year with 91 points on 39 goals and 52 assists. He also had 39 points on the power play, five game-winning goals, was a +/- + 25 and had 251 shots on goal.
He also had a great year the season before in 2021-22. Zibanejad finished that year with 81 points on 29 goals and 52 assists while also having 28 points on the power play, three game-winning goals, and being a +/- + 30.
It can be said that from the 2018-19 season through the 2022-23 season, Zibanejad was the team’s second best offensive player. Here is what he accomplished in each of those seasons:
- 2018-19: 30 goals and 44 assists for 74 points in 82 games
- 2019-20: 41 goals and 34 assists for 75 points in 57 games (COVID-shortened season)
- 2020-21: 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points in 56 games (COVID-shortened season)
- 2021-22: 29 goals and 52 assists for 81 points in 81 games
- 2022-23: 39 goals and 52 assists for 91 points in 82 games
Last season also was not a bad one for Zibanejad. He finished with 72 points on 26 goals and 46 assists.
With all of that said, however, something began to change last season. He was not as explosive and while that 72-point total looks nice, it is not what both the team and their fans were necessarily looking for from him.
This was especially the case in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes, he had 16 points in 16 games, but he only scored three goals and had just 40 shots.
When the team struggled to score against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, Zibanejad was nowhere to be found offensively. Whether it was at even strength or on the power play, Zibanejad’s offensive abilities were kept quiet by both the Panthers and even Zibanejad himself.
It appears that he has carried some of his playoff struggles into this season. As of this writing (Tuesday afternoon, November 12), Zibanejad has 11 points on two goals and nine assists in 13 games.
While he is close to still being a point-per-game player, it certainly does not feel that way. As you can see above, he has just two goals and what is more is that he only has 26 shots on goal, which means that he is not putting the puck on the net enough.
What is also glaring is his defensive play. He is currently (as of Tuesday afternoon, November 12) a +/- – 2, something that again, both the Rangers and their fans are not used to seeing from Zibanejad.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette has taken it upon himself to get Zibanejad going. To do so, he altered the team’s lines last week, separating Zibanejad from Chris Kreider and also breaking up the line of Alexis Lafreniere, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin.
Based on the way the team has played over the last week or so, the new lines have not exactly been clicking on all cylinders. The Blueshirts have scored 12 goals in four games since Laviolette changed the lines and while that number is not bad, it is not the rate that the team was scoring at in the beginning of the season when they were one of the league’s top goal-scoring teams.
Zibanejad needs to figure out a way to get himself going. He needs to get back to being the player that puts pucks on net, scores lots of goals, plays well at both ends of the ice, is a threat to produce and create offensive chances every time he is on the ice, and is someone who can drive the team’s offense.
If Zibanejad can do that, the Rangers should be able to get back to being a productive offensive hockey club that can score with the best of them. If he cannot, both he and the Rangers could be in big trouble.
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