Mika Zibanejad and His Breakout Season

Back in 2016 the New York Rangers made a trade that sent Derick Brassard to the Ottawa Senators and Mika Zibanejad to New York. This trade was huge because while it did send away a fan favorite, the Rangers were being given this young player that not too many knew of.

Fast forward to today and Zibanejad has become a fan favorite. Many Ranger fans were unaware of how talented this player really is. He was with the Senators for five years, he had 64 goals and 87 assists.

Now, he’s been with New York for three years. With his presence though it feels much longer than that. He’s a force in every single game. This season particularly he has been an excellent leader.

While the season isn’t over yet, Zibanejad has 67 points in 73 games. This shows that he’s the kind of player who is present in every game he plays. This season has been really notable for the 25 year old. He averages around 20 minutes of ice time during games. He has 28 goals and 39 assists this season. There was even a point in this season where he had a goal scoring streak and a point scoring streak.

This season especially, Zibanejad has proven that he has leadership qualities. Without a captain, the Rangers are looking for players that can take on this role. There hasn’t been any talk of who could be the future captain of this team, but many fans would like to see Zibanejad take on that role. Every game he’s there and somehow he always makes an impact. In his three years with the Rangers, he has 11 game winning goals and 27 power play goals. He has proved to fans this season that he’s the type of player the Rangers should build around.

The future of the Rangers can be really bright if Zibanejad is one of the leaders. He’s great on and off the ice, and you can tell he really loves playing in New York. He came to us unexpectedly back in 2016, but the impact he’s made in the past three years has already been so visible.