Armchair GM New York Rangers roster review: Part 1 – Centers
New York Rangers: Strength Up the Middle?
With the New York Rangers being unceremoniously dispatched from the COVID-19 induced Qualifier round, winning the Draft Lottery and with a flat cap going into the next season, it is time to play armchair GM. Realistically, could there ever be a better, more exciting time? The Rangers have the building blocks of a dynamic core for the foreseeable future and many assets that can be leveraged to add a solid group of depth and role players to build a Cup contender for many years to come.
The future is bright, for sure, but the here and now is less certain. The team needs to rely on their young players to step up to the next level, but can they? The team also needs to be much harder to play against, so while all the skilled players and prospects the team has are fun to watch, is that how the team should be constructed? Can players that peaked this year continue to play at such a high level? And are the teams free agents worth retaining, and if so, at what cost?
Each player will be primarily judged on their hockey impact and/or asset value to the team both now and for the immediate future. The analysis will be based on current position, depth at said position, production, trade value (including contract clauses) and finally chemistry. Both salary cap and contract implications will be factored in as each players financial impact cannot be ignored and will be based on what may be expected for each player to be worth on the open market.
This will be the first of a five part series, where we will be looking at the New York Rangers by position. We will start with what many hockey observers consider the most important building block for success, strength up the middle. We will then look at the wings, defense and finally, goaltending.
So … Let’s dive right in with centers …
#93 Mika Zibanejad
Mika Zibanejad is by far and away the best center and arguably the most important player on the team. From playing in all situations, leading the team in goals, power play goals and points, short-handed goals and points, being tops among forwards in time on ice, and producing points at a pro-rated 108 points over 82 games, Zibanejad has proven he is not only a top line center, but a bonafide NHL star.
His only problem is being prone to injury. Over his first four seasons, he has missed 49 games. His first season in NY he played only 56 games after suffering a broken ankle sliding into the end boards. He suffered a concussion in his second season and missed 10 games. In both cases, he was off to quality starts, posting near point per game numbers, before the injuries derailed his production pace (2016-17, 15 points in 19 games and in 2017-18, 22 points in 24 games) … playing catch-up upon his return didn’t work so well for him. Last season, being a healthy and injury free, Zibanejad had a career year establishing himself as a top line center and the first Ranger since Marian Gaborik in 2011-12 to reach the 70 point plateau.
This season Zibanejad missed another 13 games with a neck injury, but unlike his first two years, he excelled when he returned and established career highs in Goals (41) and Points (75) in only 57 games played.
In the end though, it is a pretty easy decision. Zibanejad stays, hands down and should probably get the C …