Before the situation gets really messy, New York Rangers brass needs to have an adult conversation with their top-line center Mika Zibanejad.
Can he even be called the top line center anymore? Larry Brooks of the New York Post recently detailed the Swede’s displeasure with a decline in ice time this season. In the last two games, Zibanejad has failed to eclipse 17 minutes of deployment. In the nine games the team has played thus far, the pivot has averaged just over 18 minutes time on ice., a jarring transition from the approximate 20 minutes of average ice time per game Zibanejad received over the previous six campaigns.
But Tuesday’s performance against the Capitals is one that has appeared far too often from the club’s go-to triggerman. Zibanejad recorded 1 point, a power play helper, in 16:36 time on ice and posted a -3 rating with one shot on goal. In five of the nine games this season, a career shoot-first player has recorded one or zero shots on net. Two of his seven points thus far have come at 5v5 play.
This decline hasn’t fallen out of the sky. Zibanejad capped off the postseason last year going without a goal in the final 11 outings and recording just three tallies during the playoffs overall, two of which came via the power play. During the regular season last year, Mika recorded 72 points with a mere 25 of them coming at 5v5. Zibanejad hasn’t collected more goals at even strength than the power play in each of his last three campaigns. Beginning to see a trend?
The Talk
So here we are. A player who’s decline has been steady over the last few seasons, with an over reliance on the power play being his main contributing factor. And with a Rangers’ power play that has clicked at 15.4 percent over the last five contests, it’s becoming more and more difficult to justify his deployment with the man advantage as well.
Thus, Rangers GM Chris Drury and Head Coach Peter Laviolette need to figure out a solution going forward for a player who is not living up to the $8.5 million cap hit that was signed in October of 2021. It’s clear that Zibanejad is not satisfied with his allotment of ice time. And his attitude likely won’t be any better when the following idea is brought to the table: it’s time to remove Zibanejad off the top power play unit and replace him with Alexis Lafreniere.
Lafreniere recently signed a contract extension paying him $7.45 million for the next seven seasons following 2024-25 and his contributions have been increasingly more noticeable. Lafreniere looks poised with the puck, showing the promise that was expected of him when he was drafted 1st overall in the 2020 draft. Lafreniere has shown a willingness to go to the dirty areas, to drive the net, to cut through opposing defenders like a hot knife through butter; all things the club’s top line pivot has consistently shown a reluctance to do.
Moving Zibanejad off the top power play unit would also drastically diminish his point totals. As mentioned, a majority of his production has come through power play goals and assists, so those would come few and far between on a team that seems to be content deploying one unit for the totality of the man advantage.
The second suggestion: moving Zibanejad to the wing. It would behoove the organization to go out and find another center option and begin placing Zibanejad on the flank. Following this season Reilly Smith is an unrestricted free agent, which means a void will need to be filled on the right side. Of the two options, this is the more unlikely, and with the lack of center prospects within the organization, it becomes even more of a longshot.
Either way, a conversation needs to be had. As players age, younger talent begins to take their place. Aging players have their roles diminished. It’s nothing personal. It’s just time for change.