Mika Zibanejad joins Rangers royalty with third Steven McDonald Award

The Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award is given annually to the Ranger who most goes above and beyond the call of duty, honoring the late NYPD patrolman who was shot and paralyzed in 1986. On Tuesday, for the third time in his career, Mika Zibanejad was recognized for a season-long effort of answering the call for his team.

By receiving the 2025-26 honor, Zibanejad joins an exclusive club of franchise legends as one of only four players to win the award at least three times. This victory ties him with former teammate Mats Zuccarello and leaves him trailing only Adam Graves (five) and Ryan Callahan (four) for the most in team history.

A historic turnaround for the Rangers' top center

Zibanejad’s victory serves as the definitive bookend to what many are calling a redemption season. Following a 2024-25 campaign that left critics questioning his usefulness to the organization, the 32-year-old has responded with a season highlighting that the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated. Heading into the final stretch of the schedule, Zibanejad leads the roster with 33 goals and 70 points through 74 games, re-establishing himself as the essential offensive engine for a team in transition. While these totals aren't quite at his previous career-best marks, it is impressive that in an otherwise disappointing season, he's been able to make up for last year's frustration and push for another point-per-game pace.

Rewriting the record books on Broadway

While the award celebrates his leadership, determination, and other intangible efforts, Zibanejad’s performance on the ice has been objectively historic. He recently celebrated his 1,000th career NHL game against the Ottawa Senators while simultaneously climbing into fourth place on the Rangers’ all-time goal-scoring list and third place in career power-play points.

Earlier this year, he also became the franchise leader in power-play goals and sits just one hat trick away from having the most in franchise history. Additionally, Zibanejad became one of only four skaters in the entire league this year to record at least 30 goals, 30 assists, and 15 power-play tallies, keeping the top six afloat during the most difficult months of the roster audit.

The veteran anchor of the Letter 2.0 era

As President and General Manager Chris Drury navigates the evaluation of the current roster, Zibanejad’s bounce-back year provides the exact pulse the front office is looking for. While other veterans were moved at the deadline to make room for youth, Zibanejad proved he is the necessary bridge between the previous core and the new foundation. His no-movement clause gives him security, but there is no real reason to think the Rangers would even want to move their alternate captain.

Winning the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award for the first time since his back-to-back honors in 2019 and 2020 proves that the fans value his resilience as much as his production, cementing his status as a permanent pillar of the Rangers' future. He is firmly on the path to eventually having his No. 93 hang from the rafters, and the hope is that this year’s success can reignite him further as he continues to chase Rangers history for the foreseeable future.