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Rangers’ Zibanejad Needs to Get In Gear

Originally posted on Inside The Rink | By Patrick Hoffman | Last updated 3/12/24

Over the last several seasons, there has always been one player on the New York Rangers that the team could count on to be their most consistent player.

That player was/is Mika Zibanejad. Ever since being traded to the team by the Ottawa Senators back in July 2016, Zibanejad, 30, has done it all for the Blueshirts.

He has produced (509 points), been a key contributor to the team’s power play (240 points), scored a lot of big goals (34 game-winning goals), and has played responsibly at both ends of the ice (+/- +54). Simply put, Zibanejad has done it all for the Rangers.

This season has been somewhat of a different story for Zibanejad. As of this writing (Monday night, March 11th), he has 54 points on 19 goals and 35 assists in 62 games.

Now, that point total is not terrible. He is currently the team’s fourth-leading scorer and there is still some time left in the regular season to get his point totals up.

With that said, he has struggled over his six games. In that span, he has no points, just 10 shots on goal, and is a +/- 0.

One thing he needs to do to get going is to start shooting the puck more. Yes, he plays on a line with a guy who has over 30 goals (Chris Kreider), but Zibanejad is also a player who can put the puck in the net.

Just look at his goal totals over the last few seasons:

2019-20: 41 goals in 57 games
2020-21: 24 goals in 56 games
2021-22: 29 goals in 81 games
2022-23: 39 goals in 82 games

Speaking of shooting the puck more, he needs to stop passing up high-danger scoring opportunities. There have been a lot of plays this year whether it is a 2-on-1 or an odd-man rush where Zibanejad should have shot the puck, but he passed it instead.

Lastly, it looks like he is not playing with a lot of confidence right now. He appears to be gripping the stick tighter and it is easy to tell that he is just as perplexed as the team’s fans are when it comes to his offensive struggles.

With the Stanley Cup playoffs right around the corner, Zibanejad needs to turn things around quickly. If the Rangers want to go far, they will need to have all of their best players playing at a high level and for the Blueshirts, that begins with Zibanejad.

This article first appeared on Inside The Rink and was syndicated with permission.

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