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The New York Rangers next “Core Four”?

By Scott Esposito

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 29: New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) celebrates goal as New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) congratulates him during the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers NHL game on October 29, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 29: New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) celebrates goal as New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) congratulates him during the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers NHL game on October 29, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Mika Zibanejad – Center, 27, 6-2, 213

The Swedish pivot was enjoying his finest NHL season before the league paused play.

Despite being limited by injuries to 57 games, Zibanejad still had a team-leading 41 goals along with 75 points, both career highs. His 41 markers ranked fifth in the NHL, while his previous best points total was 74 in 82 matches last season.

Since January 31, he led the NHL in goals (23) and points (36) ahead of Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (who had 16 markers and 33 points). He was third in the league with 15 power-play goals behind Boston’s David Pastrnak (20) and Draisaitl (16).

His most impressive stretch of the season came in six games from March 1-11. During that span he had 11 goals. Five of those, including the winner, came on March 5 in a 6-5 overtime victory over Washington, making him one of three Rangers to score five times in one match, joining Don Murdoch and Mark Pavelich.

Zibanejad also led all Rangers centers by winning 49 percent of his draws, and paced all forwards with an average of 21:38 time on ice. Only defenseman Jacob Trouba (22:34) had a higher average among skaters.

What’s really encouraging to the Rangers and their fans is that Zibanejad has gotten better in each season on Broadway.

In his first campaign (2016-17), he had 14 goals and 37 points in 57 games. The following season, he posted 20 markers and 47 points in 72 tilts. Last season, he scored 30 times in 82 matches for the first time in his career.

With 12 games remaining before the league went on hiatus, a 50-goal season isn’t out of the question if the league resumes where it left off. Zibanejad was (is) poised to become the fourth player in Rangers history to score 50 in a single campaign.

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