The New York Rangers have a lot of questions to answer this season. After a disastrous 2024-25 campaign, everyone will be looking for a fresh start, especially Mika Zibanejad. After a poor start to last season, he ended on a high note after moving to the right wing. He’s expected to stay on the right wing when 2025-26 opens, so here are some pros and cons of playing him at that position.
Pro: Continued Chemistry Growth with J.T. Miller
The reason why Zibanejad was moved to the right wing was that general manager Chris Drury traded to bring J.T. Miller back to New York from the Vancouver Canucks. With Miller at center, the coaching staff decided to move Zibanejad to the wing to see if that pairing could work. This pairing indeed worked extremely well and saved Zibanejad’s season from disaster. Before the Miller trade, he had nine goals and 29 points. In the 32 games after being moved to the wing, he recorded 11 goals and 33 points.
Keeping Zibanejad and Miller together to start the season could be a great way for them to find that chemistry again. Despite their different personalities, they work well together, and they ended last season as two of the team’s best offensive players. If they can replicate that success, we could see some big early wins for the Rangers.
Pro: Rangers’ Top Six Forwards Would Be Loaded With Talent
Keeping Zibanejad on the wing should make the Rangers’ top-six forward group one of the most talented in the league. The first line would see Will Cuylle playing with Miller and Zibanejad (Cuylle did get some chances to play on that line last season, and now that Chris Kreider is no longer on the team, that top-six spot has opened up for Cuylle full-time). He had a great sophomore season, with 20 goals and 45 points. He signed a two-year contract this offseason and will look to build on last season’s success.
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The projected second line dominated the league two seasons ago. Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere all had career seasons in 2023-24, but last season, did not find the same magic and each took a step back. Maybe playing in a new system and under new head coach Mike Sullivan will help them find that spark. This top six could match up with any top team in the league.
Con: Rangers’ Bottom Six Forwards Group Is Full of Question Marks
The problem with playing Zibanejad on the wing is that it leaves the bottom six with a lot of questions. If Miller, Zibanejad, and Trocheck each center their own line, Juuso Parssinen will then have to be the third-line center, and he hasn’t shown he can be a consistent player, being scratched multiple times after he was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche. Having Zibanejad play on the wing does make room for younger players like Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann, and Gabe Perreault to fight for bottom-six winger spots, but these players are unproven and might not be ready to play full-time in the NHL.
Other players competing for a bottom-six role are Sam Carrick, Matt Rempe, Taylor Raddysh, Adam Edstrom, Johnny Brodzinski, Justin Dowling, and Connor Sheary, who is on a professional tryout. While all of these players have their positives, they just don’t match up well against the league’s powerhouse teams like the Florida Panthers, who had Brad Marchand playing on their bottom six last season.
The Rangers no longer have the depth they had last season when Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko were on the third line. So, if Zibanejad stays on the wing, it will leave some holes on the bottom six.
Zibanejad is at the top of the list of players under pressure to perform in 2025-26. His play has declined over the last two seasons, but if moving him to the wing is the way to get the most out of him at this point in his career, it will have both positive and negative impacts on the Rangers to start this season.
