How good was Zibanejad in his prime?
- Thread starter Eye of Ra
- Start date
Can be harsh opinion, but Mika is probably one of the reasons Rangers didn't won cup past few years. Good production but not really a ideal 1C in cup winning team.
mid level 1C. Not elite. Could score but limited in some areas like defence. He would be an awesome 2C
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
DingerMcSlapshot
Registered User
- Dec 1, 2017
- 1,539
- 1,077
Jacob
as seen on TV
- Feb 27, 2002
- 50,520
- 27,606
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
Stickpucker
Playmaka
- Jan 18, 2014
- 16,690
- 40,552
Good diver and pp merchant who couldn't play defense.
Not ideal 1c but too good for 2c.
Not ideal 1c but too good for 2c.
East Coast Icestyle
Registered User
Prime zibanjed scored 41 goals/75 points in 57 games, I'd qualify that as an upper end 1c, even if it was only for a season
Those who say he was never a 1C are wrong and have become embittered. There's a lot of recency bias here. He drove a lot of what went right for a consistently excellent Rangers club for a very long time.
He was never elite, but he wasn't paid like it either. Not costing a truckload let the team spend those dollars elsewhere (sometimes well, sometimes not).
He's only made $8.5M starting in 2022. Before that, he was making $5.35M from 2017 to 2022. The team had a lot of success and he was well worth his coin. Ideally, you pick up another center to slot him down, but he held his own at the top-line center position in those years.
It's his latest deal that isn't looking good. That shouldn't take away from his productive seasons when he was substantially underpaid. In the end, it'll probably even out.
From 2017-18 to 2023-2024, he scored 74, 75, 50 (in 56 games in the Covid 19-shortened season), 81, 91, and 72 points. He was a No. 1 center. Paying him for past performance has bit them in the ass (but to a certain degree, they owed him).
In his last three playoffs, he scored 24 points in 20 games, 4 points in 7 games, and most recently, 16 points in 16 games. He shows up in the postseason.
He was never elite, but he wasn't paid like it either. Not costing a truckload let the team spend those dollars elsewhere (sometimes well, sometimes not).
He's only made $8.5M starting in 2022. Before that, he was making $5.35M from 2017 to 2022. The team had a lot of success and he was well worth his coin. Ideally, you pick up another center to slot him down, but he held his own at the top-line center position in those years.
It's his latest deal that isn't looking good. That shouldn't take away from his productive seasons when he was substantially underpaid. In the end, it'll probably even out.
From 2017-18 to 2023-2024, he scored 74, 75, 50 (in 56 games in the Covid 19-shortened season), 81, 91, and 72 points. He was a No. 1 center. Paying him for past performance has bit them in the ass (but to a certain degree, they owed him).
In his last three playoffs, he scored 24 points in 20 games, 4 points in 7 games, and most recently, 16 points in 16 games. He shows up in the postseason.
Mika Zibanejad | 8yrs x 8.500M (NYR)
Mika Zibanejad signed a 8 year, $68,000,000 contract with the New York Rangers on Oct. 10, 2021. The contract has a cap hit of $8,500,000.
capwages.com
Very good but for a 1C, not really one of the top ones.
I feel like "he never was that good after all" is some revisionist history / recency bias. He was no McDavid/MacKinnon or whatever but he was up there.
I feel like "he never was that good after all" is some revisionist history / recency bias. He was no McDavid/MacKinnon or whatever but he was up there.
AD1066
Registered User
- Sep 30, 2011
- 7,757
- 4,337
Good 1C for a number of years, but ideally you want someone who drives play better at ES, especially in the playoffs. Almost 40% of his career goals have come on the power play. That's higher than even Ovi. During the playoffs his per 82 game goal pace drops from 40 to about 25.
Granted it's not the biggest sample size, but a bit underwhelming IMO, considering he's not reputed for his defense. He's never struck me as the kind of player that would be a main driver of his team winning the Cup, but I think would've been really successful behind a Crosby or MacKinnon type.
Granted it's not the biggest sample size, but a bit underwhelming IMO, considering he's not reputed for his defense. He's never struck me as the kind of player that would be a main driver of his team winning the Cup, but I think would've been really successful behind a Crosby or MacKinnon type.
Machinehead
HFNYR MVP
He was never a first liner at even strength. The Rangers put him in a perfect situation and then hitched the wagon to him based on what he was doing in that situation. It's the most Rangers shit ever.
He can be, all things considered, a pretty good player. He's not typically a drag at even strength and he excels on both sides of the penalty kill. I'd like him to make a little less, but really, $8.5 million isn't what real stars make in 2025. After getting off to a horrible start this year, he's pretty much been that in recent games.
It's less so the money and more so the role. The Rangers just decided he's the 1C and never really made a serious offer for Eichel. They would have had a real chance at the Cup if they had Eichel for the 22-24 runs.
In a role where he wasn't one of the team's top players, he could be an asset, but he never moved the needle at 5v5.
He can be, all things considered, a pretty good player. He's not typically a drag at even strength and he excels on both sides of the penalty kill. I'd like him to make a little less, but really, $8.5 million isn't what real stars make in 2025. After getting off to a horrible start this year, he's pretty much been that in recent games.
It's less so the money and more so the role. The Rangers just decided he's the 1C and never really made a serious offer for Eichel. They would have had a real chance at the Cup if they had Eichel for the 22-24 runs.
In a role where he wasn't one of the team's top players, he could be an asset, but he never moved the needle at 5v5.
- Jul 28, 2011
- 16,933
- 11,793
Machinehead
HFNYR MVP
You're not wrong, but neither is he.
Eventually, you're gonna run into a matchup in the playoffs where you're asking Zibanejad to match up against a world-class center.
"Never a first liner" has got to be an exaggeration, and I don't even need to look at the data to say this.
Machinehead
HFNYR MVP
He scored at a first line level but he drove play at a third line level. He never made the Rangers better at anything when he was on the ice his entire prime. A real first line player has to do both.
80shockeywasbuns
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2022
- 2,183
- 3,908
“No way he’s not a 1C, I don’t even need the data”- Chris drury when he signed this dude for 8 years
The Hockey Tonk Man
Registered User
That season sure. But his prime is pretty much an ideal 2nd line c on a cup winning team. Nothing wrong with that.
Montreal Shadow
Registered User
Perfect offensive-minded 2C if you have a 1C like Barkov or Kopitar. If he's your 1C, you're in big trouble unless you got elite wingers who aren't horrible at defending.
Just Linda
Registered User
- Feb 24, 2018
- 6,902
- 6,918
Not all teams are going to have an elite 1C, NYR was one of those teams.
He's about what Larkin is now if Larkin had a better shot and Panarin to play with. You don't accidently score 40 goals in the NHL, that takes skill. Heck, he had 30 goals - 74pts even before Panarin was a Ranger.
He was a top line player, just was never an elite player. He had his flaws, Panarin made up for those flaws. He was never a play driver but he was more of an asset than a liability.
He's not the reason why NYR didn't do better during his prime.
He's about what Larkin is now if Larkin had a better shot and Panarin to play with. You don't accidently score 40 goals in the NHL, that takes skill. Heck, he had 30 goals - 74pts even before Panarin was a Ranger.
He was a top line player, just was never an elite player. He had his flaws, Panarin made up for those flaws. He was never a play driver but he was more of an asset than a liability.
He's not the reason why NYR didn't do better during his prime.
I always thought he overachieved a bit in relation to skill, but that's probably an unfair comment. I'm not an every game watcher of NYR, but when I see him play, he doesn't seem like the best skater to me, or the smoothest....almost seems awkward like unbalanced. He does have a pretty good shot though.
I agree with the other comments....doesn't seem like an ideal 1C, but produced offensively like one for the most part.
I agree with the other comments....doesn't seem like an ideal 1C, but produced offensively like one for the most part.
