New York Rangers midseason report cards: Top six forwards
Mika Zibanejad
Zibanejad came out of the gates on fire for the Rangers. The newly appointed first line center scored 11 goals and 11 assists in his first 24 games of the season. He was playing great hockey in all three zones and offensively, he and his linemates Pavel Buchenvich and Chris Kreider were a force to be reckoned with.
And then he suffered a concussion.
The injury forced Zibanejad to miss nine games. He came back on December 19th against the Anaheim Ducks. Eight games later, Zibanejad is just rounding back into form. He has one point in his last eight games, a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Zibanejad will be forced work his magic with rotating linemates with Kreider’s injury and the roller coaster ride up and down the lineup that Buchnevich is currently riding thanks to their crazy coach.
It’s gonna take some time for him to get back to where he was before the injury. Concussions are tricky and aren’t easy to come back from. If Zibanejad plays anything like he did in the team’s first 20 games for the rest of the season, the Rangers have a future star on their hands.