Let Zibanejad’s recovery play its natural course

What is going on with Mika Zibanejad? That is the burning question if you are a New York Rangers fan right now.

Zibanejad has now missed 10 straight games with a mysterious upper body injury after taking a monster hit from Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron on Oct, 27.

And the franchise center won’t be back at all this week, meaning that he will miss the two games in Canada over the weekend, though Coach David Quinn said that he might make the trip.

However, it appears that Zibanejad is inching closer to a return after the New York Rangers posted a picture of the forward at practice on their social media accounts on Tuesday.

Yes, he was wearing a red non-contact jersey but it was a welcome sight that got plenty of Rangers fans excited.

Only for a few hours, though. Because, Vince Z. Mercogliano, the Rangers beat writer for USA Today, tweeted out the news that Zibanejad will miss the rest of the week.

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And cue the meltdown. That tweet received a plethora of responses, including:

• “The concussion that just gets worse without even being acknowledged. WOW!”
• “Is Mika alive?”
• “Can we finally get a diagnosis on Mika? What the heck is wrong with the NHL? No other sport does this. Ugh.”

Now, Blue Line Station has addressed the last question in an article you can read here, but I wanted to cover the slight meltdown that has occurred over Zibanejad.

The good news is that the forward is back on the ice, smiling and that in itself is a sign that he should be back sooner rather than later.

But, what is the rush? A neck injury, which has been confirmed by Head Coach David Quinn, can lead to other complications and it is an area of the body you don’t want to mess with, so the Rangers are right to proceed with extreme caution.

And, quite frankly, the Blueshirts have no reason or any real motivation to rush Zibanejad back.

Why? Because they aren’t a contender and they probably aren’t going to be a playoff team, either, because this year was always going to be a developmental year in the overall rebuild plan.

Forget the fact the front office went out and acquired the likes of Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba, this season was always intended to be another baby step in the right direction.

This is a marathon and not a sprint, after all, and the Rangers are still learning to walk again let alone being in the position to run towards the finishing line.

So, just as much as patience is required for this year as a whole, it is also needed for this situation with Mika Zibanejad.

Yes, it is frustrating when you are without one of your team’s most elite players, especially when you consider the start to the year Zibanejad had.

And, let’s all be honest here, I don’t think any of us like being kept out of the loop, especially when it comes to our favorite teams.

Granted, there could be more transparency at play here, I agree with those views entirely, but when it comes to a timescale for Zibanejad’s return I think we all need to relax a bit.

He is, along with Artemi Panarin, the best player on this team right now and, as such, fans want to see him play, especially if they pay very good money to go to MSG.

I get all of that but, Zibanejad’s neck injury is clearly worse than first feared, so the Rangers are right to treat him with kid gloves and keep him on the shelf.

Because, after all, what’s more important? Mika Zibanejad being on the ice for games in November that ultimately don’t mean a lot or a healthy Mika Zibanejad on the ice when it really counts?

I think we all know the answer to that one.

So, as frustrating as it is to not see the forward strut his stuff and to also not know what the hell his condition is exactly, let’s just let his recovery play out naturally and, hopefully, we will see a fully healthy Mika Zibanejad back out on the ice where he belongs sooner rather than later.