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Player Discussion Mika Zibanejad: Part II

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aufheben

aufheben

#Norris4Fox
Jan 31, 2013
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Previous: Player Discussion - Mika Zibanejad [Warning Post #3]
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37th overall in scoring 18th among centers. And that’s with playing next to 2 fourth liners half the season.

We said it last year if he stayed healthy he’d be a star and sure enough he’s been one.

I’ll say one more thing though. I think that performance in the Wotkd Championships did a lot for his confidence coming in.
 
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Can we officially agree that Mika is a legitimate 1st line center? He’s a PPG player. He’s making highly skilled plays. He, along with Kreider, has pretty much carried the offense all year. And, right now, his confidence is so high that he’s showing the swagger of a top line player.
 
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Kovalev27 said:
37th overall in scoring 18th among centers. And that’s with playing next to 2 fourth liners half the season.

We said it last year if he stayed healthy he’d be a star and sure enough he’s been one.

I’ll say one more thing though. I think that performance in the Wotkd Championships did a lot for his confidence coming in.
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15th among players that actually play center. Three of the guys ahead of him have scored most of their points playing on the wing (Draisaitl, Marner, Lindholm).
 
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Kovalev27 said:
37th overall in scoring 18th among centers. And that’s with playing next to 2 fourth liners half the season.

We said it last year if he stayed healthy he’d be a star and sure enough he’s been one.

I’ll say one more thing though. I think that performance in the Wotkd Championships did a lot for his confidence coming in.
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And you have to wonder where he'd be in a top six role on some of the higher-scoring teams.

To me his ppg pace on the Rangers is far more impressive than some of the other totals posted by players where it seems like they have a 20% percent bonus effect on their offensive numbers.
 
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Edge said:
And you have to wonder where he'd be in a top six role on some of the higher-scoring teams.

To me his ppg pace on the Rangers is far more impressive than some of the other totals posted by players where it seems like they have a 20% percent bonus effect on their offensive numbers.
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I’ve been singing that tune for months as well. You put some elite players around him and he’s a 90 plus point player imo. He played half the season with guys like Jesper Fast next to him.
 
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Kovalev27 said:
I’ve been singing that tune for months as well. You put some elite players around him and he’s a 90 plus point player imo. He played half the season with guys like Jesper Fast next to him.
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I think he is and continues to be underrated.

We saw flashes of this his first two years, and stupid injuries seemed to derail him. But this year it's all coming together. It feels like he's been in the league forever, but the reality is that he's not even yet 26.
 
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Edge said:
And you have to wonder where he'd be in a top six role on some of the higher-scoring teams.

To me his ppg pace on the Rangers is far more impressive than some of the other totals posted by players where it seems like they have a 20% percent bonus effect on their offensive numbers.
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But, it’s also more than just the production. He’s making highly-skilled plays, which is what top end players do. The game-winner against NJ, the backhand pass to set up the Hayes goal against TB, using the sideboard for a self-pass to create a scoring opportunity, these displays of creativity are what potentially take him to the next level.
 
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jas said:
But, it’s also more than just the production. He’s making highly-skilled plays, which is what top end players do. The game-winner against NJ, the backhand pass to set up the Hayes goal against TB, using the sideboard for a self-pass to create a scoring opportunity, these displays of creativity are what potentially take him to the next level.
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You know it's funny, we talk about the top-end potential that's available with high draft picks. In many cases, that kind of pedigree is often played-up --- especially in trades.

But in Zibanejad's case, it's almost been a bit of an afterthought. I know he wasn't our first round pick, but Zibanejad was still a sixth overall pick in what turned out to be a good top 10 and good first round overall.

The high-end skill is there.

 
Edge said:
You know it's funny, we talk about the top-end potential that's available with high draft picks. In many cases, that kind of pedigree is often played-up --- especially in trades.

But in Zibanejad's case, it's almost been a bit of an afterthought. I know he wasn't our first round pick, but Zibanejad was still a sixth overall pick in what turned out to be a good top 10 and good first round overall.

The high-end skill is there.

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I remember some of our European posters clueing us into him that draft, until he started marching up the draft charts. What I’m now struck by is how high his skill level actually is, and how we can now put to rest the ‘Zibanejad might be better off on the wing’ conservations that have come up in the past. He’s actually what the ‘Chytil is a center’ crowd thinks Chytil could be, whereas, Chytil is what the ‘Zibanejad would be better on the wing’ crowd thought about Zibanejad.
 
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aufheben said:
Yeah put him in Landeskog’s spot and he absolutely hits 90+ points.
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That then brings to question that the organization's top line center is not yet here. I have said for a while, between him and Kreider, you have a legit top line wing and center. And then the chances of you drafting someone that will be able to push him to second line center status within a few years is very, very slim.
 
True Blue said:
That then brings to question that the organization's top line center is not yet here. I have said for a while, between him and Kreider, you have a legit top line wing and center. And then the chances of you drafting someone that will be able to push him to second line center status within a few years is very, very slim.
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I think the fantasy was that the Rangers would grab a center and that center would push Zibanejad down. And that may happen, further down the road. But if Zibanejad is a legit 70-90 point center with quality linemates, it's not the end of the world to have a younger 60-70 point center (with the upside for more) behind him. It's not the whole Brassard-Stepan dilemma.
 
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Zibanejad is so versatile. He can score, pass, play defense, and has great hands. He can also DJ and kick field goals.
 
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