Blue Line Station
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3 New York Rangers surpassing expectations early in the season

By Conor Power

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Zac Jones #6 of the New York Rangers skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on October 23, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Zac Jones #6 of the New York Rangers skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on October 23, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 03: Mika Zibanejad #93 and Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers chat during warmups prior to the game against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on November 03, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 03: Mika Zibanejad #93 and Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers chat during warmups prior to the game against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on November 03, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Mika Zibanejad

As I mentioned talking about Artemi Panarin, the Rangers will need their best players to shine if they’re going to compete for the Stanley Cup. Other things you need to win the Stanley Cup include a deep roster, a good goaltender, and most importantly, strong center depth. For the New York Rangers, they will need their first-line center to be special. Thankfully, Mika Zibanejad has been everything the Blueshirts could have asked for and more.

Zibanejad has always been a talented scorer. He’s always been able to put the puck in the net at a high rate because he is incredibly talented. Saying Zibanejad is the most talented sniper on the roster right now. He drives to the net, he gets in front and he gets to the dirty areas. He’s not got an Ovechkin-level shot so scoring those tap-in goals on the edge of the crease is something he has to do and he often gets his rewards.

For Mika, his hot start has kind of tapered out as of late, but still having 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points in 12 games is going to be considered a great start from one of the Rangers stars. With the Swedish centerman pacing the Rangers goal scoring totals, there is a lot of hope for the Blueshirts to keep growing into the season and getting better as the games roll on and continue to come.

With Zibanejad leading the Rangers scoring gallery they’re going to be in a good place come to the end of the year. This is roughly a 41-goal pace for Zibanejad and while that’s not going to be good enough for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy at the end of the year, that’s going to be good enough for the Rangers. Zibanejad needs to continue to play like this for the Rangers. He’s an important player they need to keep playing.

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