As Mika Zibanejad enters his eighth season with the New York Rangers, there is no question that he has turned into a superstar over the last few seasons. He has been the Rangers’ number-one center for the majority of his time in New York, and he has become one of the top centers in the entire NHL. However, it still seems that he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves around the league. Going into the 2023-24 season, Zibanejad is one of the most underrated players in the NHL. Here are a few reasons why he should be seen as one of the top players in the NHL.
Zibanejad an Offensive Threat
During his time with the Rangers, Zibanejad has had one 41-goal season and three seasons where he has scored over 30 goals. He was one goal away from reaching 40 again last season and could easily reach that number again this season. He has also been a power-play weapon over the past few seasons. Since the 2019-20 season, he ranks second in the NHL with 60 power-play goals. The only player in front of him is Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers with 87. In that same span, he ranks ninth with 133 total goals scored. The player right behind him is none other than Chris Kreider, with 132.
When talking about the top goal scorers in the league, Zibanejad’s name rarely gets brought up in that conversation. However, he has quietly been one of the top goal-scorers for the last few seasons and has also been an excellent point producer. Since 2019-20, he ranks 14th in the entire league with 297 points in 276 games. These numbers could easily be more if he didn’t miss time with injury and if the seasons weren’t shortened for two straight years.
A Great Defensive Player
Zibanejad has been one of the Rangers’ top defensive players ever since arriving in New York. Over the past few years, he has gotten even better in the defensive zone and has truly stepped up his game on the penalty kill and in the faceoff circle. The past two seasons have been the best for Zibanejad in terms of winning faceoffs; he won 52.3 percent of his faceoffs during the 2021-22 season, his career best. Although that number did come down to 49.5 percent this past season, it is still on pace for his career average, which is 49.7 percent. He has gotten better over the years since he has had to match up against some of the top centers in the league, like Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron, on a regular basis.
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He has also been the Rangers’ best penalty killer, with him and Kreider having become a great penalty-killing duo the past two seasons. He knows where he needs to be on the kill and will apply pressure on the player with the puck when the time is right. He has been able to create short-handed chances for himself and his teammates on numerous occasions. While he has only scored nine short-handed goals since becoming a Ranger, the rest of his defensive play has truly gotten better over the past few years. He is even getting Selke Trophy votes as the best defensive forward in the NHL.
Zibanejad Has Something To Prove This Season
After having a disappointing playoff performance by his standards, Zibanejad is entering this season with something to prove. He needs to show that the playoffs were just a one-off and that he is still the elite player he has shown he can be. Many eyes are going to be on him to see how he is going to play, and if he can get back to that elite level and help bring the Rangers to another level, he won’t be as underrated as he is now.
