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New York Rangers: Centers for the opening night lineup

By Danny Jones

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 30: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first NHL goal with teammates on the bench in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 30, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 30: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first NHL goal with teammates on the bench in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 30, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) waits for a face off during a NHL game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers on March 28, 2018, at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. The Capitals defeated the Rangers 3-2 in overtime.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) waits for a face off during a NHL game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers on March 28, 2018, at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. The Capitals defeated the Rangers 3-2 in overtime.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1st Line Center: Mike Zibanejad

A bit of a no brainer so I’ll just get this out of the way. The Swede is the top center for this team on opening night. When healthy, he’s proven he can handle the responsibility of not only producing at a top 6 rate, but go against the opposing teams top line as well.

Last year in 72 games he notched 27 goals (14 on the power-play) for 47 total points. If he can rekindle the chemistry with Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider that made the KZB line so successful, we should be in for another productive year from Zibanejad.

The key for the Swede this center will be avoiding a serious injury and playing a full season. In each of Zibanejad’s first two seasons with the Rangers, he suffered a major injury that through off his rhythm and took a long time to work back from. Hopefully Zibanejad can avoid getting tagged as injury prone because of how talented of a player he is.

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