Now is the time to decide about Mika Zibanejad
By Steve Paulus
Do they want him?
The answer is obviously yes. There are some issues. The first is age. Zibanejad will be 29 when he signs a new deal and will turn 30 in the first year. With the team already committed to Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider on deals that will carry into their mid to late thirties, do the Rangers want to add another player to that list? So, term will be important. If Zibanejad is looking for more than five years, the Rangers would probably consider walking away.
The second issue is the salary cap. Although the latest information is that the cap will increase from the current $81.5 million to a range from $84 to $88 million, the team has to be careful as all of their young stars will be needing raises when their Entry Level Contracts expire. The good news is the financial future for the NHL looks bright with their new television rights deals, more online betting revenue and full attendance in arenas expected by next season.
The Rangers already have over $34 million committed against the salary cap for the 2022-23 season. If Zibanejad is going to be looking for Panarin-like money, he may price himself out of the Rangers’ future.
What they should do
If Zibanejad wants to stay in New York and is willing to accept a five year deal and not shoot for the stars when it comes to salary, they should lock him up now. It will avoid the kind of ugly situation the Devils had with Taylor Hall and the Islanders had with John Tavares.
The difference for the Rangers is that they fully expect to compete for a playoff spot next season and Zibanejad will be a crucial piece of the playoff puzzle. There is no way that the Blueshirts would sell him to the highest bidder at the deadline if the Rangers are poised to make it back to the postseason. He also has a full No Movement Clause in his contract.
Signing him now removes all of the uncertainty and speculation. It also brings some stability to a team that just went through the turbulence of a coaching and upper management change. It’s a move that makes sense if and only if Zibanejad is willing to meet the team part-way.
In his end of season press conference, he certainly sounded like someone who wanted to stay with the Rangers. “I love it here, I love the team. I love the City and I love the guys here. I want to win here. It’s obviously not just up to me so we’ll take it as it goes and I don’t know what more to say.”