Zibanejad's play irked me last year. Over the last few years, I've felt that as he went, the team went. He drove the offense. I hardly saw that last year. There are four possible reasons: lack of motivation. That is never the case with him. Lack of conditioning: again, never the case with him. Nagging injuries that we didn't know about: possibly, but not something we can address as we don't know. Age regression: he is at that age when some players begin to lose it, just a tad, but enough to be noticeable. I've never been one to believe in the trope that "he just had a bad year." There always is a reason. At age 31, it just might be early aging. I certainly hope he improves. As I said, as he goes, the team goes. He always starts slowly so it will be hard to tell what is happening before the calendar turns over to 2025. So, we will see.