Player Discussion Mika Zibanejad

[Synergy27]

Mika is a DJ in his spare time, Trouba is a painter in his spare time. Im sensing a pattern among the team's leadership.

Which brings us to the next topic. NYC.

Yes. It’s harder to win in New York. More distractions. More motivated opponents.

 

[leetch99]

I wish the Rangers had a coach that would have the guts to scratch him.

I wish we had a player on our club that would have the balls to speak out on his play every game . If enough did this he might want out sooner rather than later . This is what needs to happen . It cannot go on . It will need to be Trocheck that does this . I don't see anybody else .

 

[McRanger92]

I wish we had a player on our club that would have the balls to speak out on his play every game . If enough did this he might want out sooner rather than later . This is what needs to happen . It cannot go on . It will need to be Trocheck that does this . I don't see anybody else .

Zero Accountability

 

[Irishguy42]

Which brings us to the next topic. NYC.

Yes. It’s harder to win in New York. More distractions. More motivated opponents.

True.

Dolan is an idiot for not moving the team to a place that is devoid of amusement/ability to do cool things with your free time.

Bring the Rangers to the Meadowlands.

 

[DolansKazoo]

Is this Bum still on the team?

 

[17futurecap]

Disaster

 

[TheWrongWay]

I wish we had a player on our club that would have the balls to speak out on his play every game . If enough did this he might want out sooner rather than later . This is what needs to happen . It cannot go on . It will need to be Trocheck that does this . I don't see anybody else .

Gosh, I was that guy.

I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it. I know teammates respected my compete level and knew I always had their backs. But I also felt like they hated me a little (or a lot).

I can say with some certainty they did things with more zest to avoid me targeting them during a game with a comment or tirade. But I still wish I didn't need to go there in the first place. To be fair, if I was mailing a game in, I wanted to be informed about it in the same direct fashion. I certainly did not want to be the one dragging the entire rest of the team down.

It didn't always feel great. But I reckon it can't be all bad. I captained many of the teams I played on, often by player vote.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Gosh, I was that guy.

I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it. I know teammates respected my compete level and knew I always had their backs. But I also felt like they hated me a little (or a lot).

I can say with some certainty they did things with more zest to avoid me targeting them during a game with a comment or tirade. But I still wish I didn't need to go there in the first place. To be fair, if I was mailing a game in, I wanted to be informed about it in the same direct fashion. I certainly did not want to be the one dragging the entire rest of the team down.

It didn't always feel great. But I reckon it can't be all bad. I captained many of the teams I played on, often by player vote.

What was your highest level of hockey? I'm just asking out of genuine curiosity, not mocking you or discounting your post.

 

[TheWrongWay]

What was your highest level of hockey? I'm just asking out of genuine curiosity, not mocking you or discounting your post.

College and damn mediocre at it I might add. My three siblings also played college sports. My older brother was the only one who made it pro (NFL).

Thinking about it now, I have not laced up a pair of skates in nearly 25 years. Into my early 30s, me and my kid brother still played pickup. He died when I was 33 and I haven't played since.

 

[Mike in Houston]

College and damn mediocre at it I might add. My three siblings also played college sports. My older brother was the only one who made it pro (NFL).

Thinking about it now, I have not laced up a pair of skates in nearly 25 years. Into my early 30s, me and my kid brother still played pickup. He died when I was 33 and I haven't played since.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Boris Zubov]

College and damn mediocre at it I might add. My three siblings also played college sports. My older brother was the only one who made it pro (NFL).

Thinking about it now, I have not laced up a pair of skates in nearly 25 years. Into my early 30s, me and my kid brother still played pickup. He died when I was 33 and I haven't played since.

Sounds like he died way too young. My condolences.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

College and damn mediocre at it I might add. My three siblings also played college sports. My older brother was the only one who made it pro (NFL).

Thinking about it now, I have not laced up a pair of skates in nearly 25 years. Into my early 30s, me and my kid brother still played pickup. He died when I was 33 and I haven't played since.

I'm sorry, man. Much love.

 

[GbgRanger]

Zib is playing real bad at the moment there is no denying that.

What are the chanches he will bounce back though? There are many players who have gone into bad slumps for years and the came out on fire.

Two recent exemples of this are Ovechkin and Laine.

The best thing that could happened in the Ziba-saga is either of two scenarios imo.

1. He goes back to form and kills it in february-april. Mika is a notorious slow starter who has histrorically thrived down the stretch. Hopefully he would continue his form into the next season.

2. Mika is traded Scott Gomez-style.


Worst case scenario is that he continues his garbage play and we have to pay someone to take on his contract

 

[egelband]

Zib is playing real bad at the moment there is no denying that.

What are the chanches he will bounce back though? There are many players who have gone into bad slumps for years and the came out on fire.

Two recent exemples of this are Ovechkin and Laine.

The best thing that could happened in the Ziba-saga is either of two scenarios imo.

1. He goes back to form and kills it in february-april. Mika is a notorious slow starter who has histrorically thrived down the stretch. Hopefully he would continue his form into the next season.

2. Mika is traded Scott Gomez-style.


Worst case scenario is that he continues his garbage play and we have to pay someone to take on his contract

He’s definitely a slow starter. Wonder why.

 

[Levitate]

Mika needs to stop moping and get his shit together, I don't care about the excuse anymore

 

[n8]

Disaster

Is there a version of that chart that is month by month? I want to see if there was a month in the last two seasons where the WAR tanked or if it was a steady decline somewhere in those seasons.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Is he waived yet?

 

[trueblue30nyr]

Is he waived yet?

Unfortunately, he's Gorilla Glued to this team.

 

[Peltz]

Mika is a DJ in his spare time, Trouba is a painter in his spare time. Im sensing a pattern among the team's leadership.

Have you seen Trouba's paintings? I doubt he spends more than 10 minutes on each "piece".

The pattern is that they both suck at hockey. That's all.

 

[Peltz]

Zib is playing real bad at the moment there is no denying that.

What are the chanches he will bounce back though? There are many players who have gone into bad slumps for years and the came out on fire.

Two recent exemples of this are Ovechkin and Laine.

The best thing that could happened in the Ziba-saga is either of two scenarios imo.

1. He goes back to form and kills it in february-april. Mika is a notorious slow starter who has histrorically thrived down the stretch. Hopefully he would continue his form into the next season.

2. Mika is traded Scott Gomez-style.


Worst case scenario is that he continues his garbage play and we have to pay someone to take on his contract

This is different that other slumps he's had. In the past, like in the season after COVID, he just failed to produce as much offensively but was still doing good things out there.

This year, every single aspect of his game besides penalty killing has completely tanked. He's never been irresponsible with the puck like this. The sheer number of giveaways is like a completely different player.

I think he's cooked. Maybe he can reform himself into a 3rd pairing defensive center, but that's his upside at this point.

The fact that he's still getting minutes he's getting is malpractice from this organization.

 

[nyr2k2]

This is different that other slumps he's had. In the past, like in the season after COVID, he just failed to produce as much offensively but was still doing good things out there.

This year, every single aspect of his game besides penalty killing has completely tanked. He's never been irresponsible with the puck like this. The sheer number of giveaways is like a completely different player.

I think he's cooked. Maybe he can reform himself into a 3rd pairing defensive center, but that's his upside at this point.

The fact that he's still getting minutes he's getting is malpractice from this organization.

IDK, I'm all for benching him, but only as a temporary motivational tactic. This is a lost season and I think given the contractual obligation we have to Zibanejad, we kind of have to play him and play him a lot to see if he can get through it. Stapling him to the bench or even in the press box doesn't seem likely to be the long-term solution to whatever is ailing him.

With Zibanejad, I'm reminded of MLB's Chris Davis who signed a huge contract coming off a monster year with Baltimore. Within a couple of seasons he was arguably the worst regular player in the sport, certainly factoring in his contract. But Baltimore had nowhere to send him--he wasn't going to AAA, Baltimore couldn't trade him, baseball contracts are guaranteed like hockey contracts--so they just had to keep playing him until hopefully things fixed themselves. They never did. I'm not suggesting Zibanejad is in Chris Davis territory but the principle is the same, in that you gotta keep playing the guy.

 

[Jack Hanson]

 

[LORDE]

IDK, I'm all for benching him, but only as a temporary motivational tactic. This is a lost season and I think given the contractual obligation we have to Zibanejad, we kind of have to play him and play him a lot to see if he can get through it. Stapling him to the bench or even in the press box doesn't seem likely to be the long-term solution to whatever is ailing him.

With Zibanejad, I'm reminded of MLB's Chris Davis who signed a huge contract coming off a monster year with Baltimore. Within a couple of seasons he was arguably the worst regular player in the sport, certainly factoring in his contract. But Baltimore had nowhere to send him--he wasn't going to AAA, Baltimore couldn't trade him, baseball contracts are guaranteed like hockey contracts--so they just had to keep playing him until hopefully things fixed themselves. They never did. I'm not suggesting Zibanejad is in Chris Davis territory but the principle is the same, in that you gotta keep playing the guy.

Sad part of this (not knowing who Chris Davis is) is that it sounds EXACTLY like what Mika is