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Player Discussion Mika Zibanejad

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Far from a 1st line center on a team with cup aspirations at this point.

 
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Atax said:
He honestly looked slow out there. I dont know how else to describe it. Dude has become afraid to let it rip. Or maybe he knows his shot is no longer that good.
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Or maybe he knows the rest of the league knows he's a 1 tricky pony and predictable
 
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mas0764 said:
I like where the tide seems to be going with Zibanejad on this board. He’s more of a negative to our Cup hopes at the current moment due to his declining play and salary and so it would very likely be a good thing if he’s moved and we should be exploring it. At the same time, to act like he shouldn’t be appreciated is wrong.

I liked the player for a long time and wish I could have liked him more but at the end of the day the goal isn’t scoring 40 goals, 75 points or to win a playoff round or two. Those kind of achievements are only notable for the Rangers because they have 1 Cup since the Great Depression, and have essentially never had an elite center except end-of-his-prime Messier.

Zibanejad is the epitome of the Dark Knight line: Die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. He’s the latter.

Mika was an excellent acquisition. I re-do the Brassard for Mika trade ten times out of ten. I want players like Mika on my team. I want to flip aging second liners for up and coming first liners every single time.

And he was a very, very, very good player. He could score goals. He ended up being a pretty good defender. He became a reliable 70 point player. There is nothing wrong with him at all.

Except for one thing: he was the best the Rangers had, and the teams that win Cups have Sidney Crosbys, Nathan MacKinnons, Patrick Kanes, Alex Ovechkins.

He was a very good player, but he was on a team that needed a Hall of Famer to get over the hump, like almost all Cup winners do have 1-2 of at forward. And he just isn’t that. Though you could argue he’s about 5-10 playoff goals from the Rangers having two Cup wins the last three years, that’s how close it is, and he’d be a Hall of Famer.

So you can’t blame Mika… but his $8m contract extension does keep you from getting the players you need.

And so I’m forced to wish he wasn’t here.
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It's all true. I don't hate the player but just hate his contract and what it means for the team.
 
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Roo Returns said:
Some of y'all are too young to remember Igor Ulanov, Valery Kamensky, Tom Poti, Stephan Quintal for example.

Barry Beck took a lot of crap his last few years when he had shoulder issues after the Pat Flatley hit, and Willie Huber ("RIP") took a lot of crap because he was a big dude who wasn't overly physical.
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Tom Poti made me want to tear my hair out. Thanks for that reminder. Matt Gilroy was another one. I think those are my top 2 most disliked Rangers. I never actually hated one though.

Until Tony DeAngelo. f*** that guy.
 
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I've been hearing about how good this guy is defensively for years. It's absolute nonsense.
I hope management learns a lesson and doesn't sign a player to a long term deal based off of one season.
Yes, I will admit that I don't like the player, so I am biased. He's good for a few stretches each season where he will produce points. Otherwise, he's useless.
 
The S5 said:
I've been hearing about how good this guy is defensively for years. It's absolute nonsense.
I hope management learns a lesson and doesn't sign a player to a long term deal based off of one season.
Yes, I will admit that I don't like the player, so I am biased. He's good for a few stretches each season where he will produce points. Otherwise, he's useless.
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On the other hand they should’ve extended Igor 8 years instead of 4 based on his good season or two. Now look what’s happening.

All of sports is a gamble. You can’t predict how a guy will age. Sometimes they become elite like Igor and sometimes their best years are behind them like Zib.

Remember, half this board wanted to ship off Kreider years ago and then became a far better player under his current contract. No one ever predicted a 50 goal season from him.

Zib was elite until the Covid break. He was never the same guy ever again afterwards.
 
I hate to judge players based on anything other than on ice results, but even in his home opener hype video, this guy came across as distracted and lacking passion. He’s an extremely physically talented human, talented enough to be a really good NHL player while coasting, but he does not seem to have a burning desire in his belly to win and dominate.

For as much shit as he gets, at least Trouba has that fire. Who thinks Mika would survive a Mike Keenan style house cleaning?
 
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PLD is pretty universally known for having a horrid contract and I’d honestly swap him 1 for 1 with Mika. That’s how bad Mika is. Like remember that clip of PLD making that lazy forecheck while on Columbus? That’s every board battle with Mika. Embarrassing.

The good news is, I trust Lavy to move him off PP1 if he keeps this up. Small victories I suppose…
 
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Kords said:
PLD is pretty universally known for having a horrid contract and I’d honestly swap him 1 for 1 with Mika. That’s how bad Mika is. Like remember that clip of PLD making that lazy forecheck while on Columbus? That’s every board battle with Mika. Embarrassing.

The good news is, I trust Lavy to move him off PP1 if he keeps this up. Small victories I suppose…
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see i don't trust Lav to do anything about Meeka
 
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Uglybstrd said:
Hilarious....
Thats on the GM, how can he give out a buy-out proof contract??
And a full NMC through the entire contract. Completely handcuffed.

Probably have to give a team two 1st and a prospect to take the contract (if Zib even agrees to a trade that is.)
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Attach him to Shesterkin and trade them both to the Avalanche for MacKinnon. Paying Igor 12.5 is going to come back to bite us in the ass. Yes - I know this is completely unrealistic - let a guy dream.
 
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I hope people on this board stop making excuses for Mika. Last year the excuse was he just needed some time to get going and that he just had a child. He played like dog shit all season. I dont want to hear about his production on the PP. I think any forward would score 50+ points on a PP with Fox, Kreider, and Panarin. He was on the ice for 24 minutes and coasted the entire time.

There was a play where Trocheck? won a draw in the offensive zone. The play was for Mika to let it rip. Instead he coasted around and tried to make a cute little pass and turned it over.

The dude is cooked. He needs to be demoted. I dont want to hear that it's only game 2.
 
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Family is way more important than the game. Let’s not get it twisted

But he’s a professional getting paid a lot of money. It’s not excusable in that regard
 
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