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Rangers regular season review: The top six

By Conor Power

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: The New York Rangers tap the boards during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. The Sabres defeated the Rangers 3-2 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: The New York Rangers tap the boards during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. The Sabres defeated the Rangers 3-2 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OHIO - APRIL 08: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck during the third period at Nationwide Arena on April 08, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO – APRIL 08: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck during the third period at Nationwide Arena on April 08, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images) /

Mika Zibanejad

For the Rangers’ number-one center, this was a fantastic season. Mika Zibanejad put up a career-high in points and he became one of the most dangerous goal-scorers in the NHL. This was going to be a tear where the Rangers needed to see that Zibanejad had what it took to be considered an elite talent, even better than he had been, and he proved that in so many ways this season.

With 39 goals, 52 assists, and 91 points, Zibanejad came through big time. When the Rangers needed someone to score, it was Zibanejad. If the Rangers were off to a slow start, falling behind the game, and needed a goal to kick the team into life? Enter Mika. He became such a clutch player as well as an elite talent this season and those are traits that the Blueshrits will need the Swede to have in the postseason.

On top of his base production, Zibanejad became one of the most vaunted powerplay producers in hockey tallying 20 goals on the man advantage, good enough for joint 3rd in the NHL, although he could drop to fourth with the two games going on tonight on the day of writing this. It became a year where Zibanejad’s shot was the major weapon the Rangers had and that needs to continue to be the case moving forward.

This was a really strong regular season for the Rangers’ Swedish center. He played in every game which had been an issue in previous years and finished one point back of the team lead in points from the Breadman. A fantastic season for a fantastic player when the team needed him to step up, he showed no problems doing exactly that and living up to the hype around him.

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