New York Rangers: Zibanejad Scouting Report Via SenShot.com
It has been a couple of days now since the New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators made their big trade.
Well into the dog days of summer, the two teams announced the deal that sent Broadway fan favorite Derick Brassard to the Senators in exchange for the extremely talented youngster Mika Zibanejad. The Rangers and Senators also swapped 2018 draft picks. The Rangers received a 2nd rounder, while the Senators will only walk away with a 7th rounder.
A few days ago, I wrote about what Mika Zibanejad’s numbers say he will bring to the team next year, and perhaps the subsequent years to follow. While I do believe that numbers never lie, sometimes they don’t tell the whole story, just like when you used to tell your mom you didn’t take a cookie from the cookie jar, while your little brother put his tiny hand into the jar, and grabbed you a delicious cookie to devour.
Mmmmm, cookies…
Anyway, my point is sometimes another person’s view of a situation could help you to evaluate it, and give you the best idea of what the circumstances may be. Well, thanks to the help of Ian Smith of Senshot.com, we might have a better idea of what the New York Rangers acquired in a guy like Mika Zibanejad.
John: What is your take on the deal?
"Ian: Mika looks like he’s about to be a star, and the Senators front office didn’t want to pay him next offseason when his contract runs out. I mean, I understand why (the Senators) did this trade, because there’s no guarantee that Mika takes that next step and is worthy of a hefty new contract, but just taking the economics out of the equation, I think New York won this trade. Mika still has huge upside."
John: What do you think Mika’s ceiling is, and how far away do you think he is from getting there?
"Ian: The optimist in me says he scores 70 points by the season after this next one. Worst case scenario, he ends up plateauing in that 55-60 point range. Not a good faceoff guy, but has gotten better in that regard. Really inconsistent as a scorer, though.Interestingly enough, he led the team with 7 game-winning goals last year, but up until last season, he’d never had one in 200 career games. He’s also kinda soft like, he should be stronger than he actually is based on how big he is."
John: What is the one area of Mika’s game that needs to be improved the most?
"Ian: The area he needs the most improvement in is probably his lack of physicality. He plays smaller than he actually is."
I think New York won this trade. Mika still has huge upside.
John: Is there any player in the league, past or present, that Mika’s game is comparable to?
"Ian: Maybe a shorter version of Jeff Carter."
John: How was Mika in the room to your knowledge? Was he popular amongst his teammates and/or the fans?
"Ian: I think there was a lot of resentment brewing with Mika amongst some fans because he hasn’t lived up to the hype of what people thought he’d be. I’m not sure it’s entirely fair because the whole team has really struggled with inconsistency. It’s why I have a feeling that it’s going to prove mainly a Senators’ problem, and he’ll take the next step in New York.Mika was a nice guy and teammates like him, but it was a bit bumpy with the fans because he never became that bonafide number one center that people expected he’d become by now."
That was a lot of fun! Be sure to check out SenShot.com for an exclusive Derick Brassard scouting report featuring an interview with yours truly tomorrow. My take away from what I learned is, everything isn’t all fine and dandy with Zibanejad, but he has shown enough flashes of potential that make others believe, from up close and afar, that he could be a special player.
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A lot of the things that Ian said about Zibanejad remind me of a current Rangers center and restricted free agent Kevin Hayes. Not great at faceoffs–although Zibanejad is a million times better in that department than Hayes is,–plays smaller than his size would indicate but yet has enormous potential to be a stud in this league. The only difference is Zibanejad has had much better results thus far than Hayes, but that could all change.
Huge New York Rangers fan and former New York Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason said this morning on his radio show that he has heard that Hayes has dropped about 10 pounds so far this offseason, so if that is true, that has to make you feel better about Hayes’ work ethic, which has been heavily criticized by the media.
Next: A Deeper Look at the Zibanejad Trade
Back to Zibanejad for a moment; we learned a lot today about the Swede who has a Finnish-born mother and an Iranian-born Father. Hopefully, he can one day reach the potential that Ian said that he believes he has, and maybe the New York Rangers will be proclaimed a clear winner like everyone in the media is saying they are when the dust settles and everything is all said and done.