The New York Rangers have had a rough couple of weeks here. There is no denying that this may be the toughest stretch of hockey in the long-tenured history of this historic franchise, just in terms of complete and utter disappointment. With a 2-7 record over their last nine games before the Christmas break, the Rangers have very little hope before the new year.
One of the low-lights of the season, and a main contributor to their struggling, faltering, underwhelming season, is the play from Mika Zibanejad. He has been embraced as a top-line center and one that should be considered one of the best in the entire league. But, this season has shown a different side to the story, as he has been arguably the worst player on this roster.
Just how important is he to this team, and if he gets himself back together, will the Rangers be successful again?
Mika is the MVP?
Most Valuable Player. That is a funny award to me as it usually is a stat-driven award, despite having a connotation that it means the player that meant the most to the team. Now, the MVP of this team is, and will be for the rest of the year, Artemi Panarin. He has the most goals, and points and delivers on that description of being the Blueshirt that means the most when he is on the ice. But, in terms of importance on all facets of the game, face-offs and penalty kill, and leadership, ZIbanejad should be considered the most valuable... player.
With six goals and 15 assists for 21 points on the year, he is having a seriously bad year. Through 34 games, almost, if not all, of his average stats are down or in the negative from years past. His CorsiFor% is at 49.5%, which is well below his career average of 54%, as well as his PDO, which measures shooting percentage, and the goaltender save percentage, which is at a career-low 96.7%.
Let us also not ignore the elephant in the room: Zibanejad is at -19. Of all the skaters that have played this season in all of the NHL, he is tied for the fourth-worst. That is out of 793 skaters that have played in an NHL game this year.
If he turns it around, can Rangers be winners again
It is not just Zibanejad. It will take him turning it around, plus a lot more than that to turn this thing around. Firmly, it begins with the coaching and front office becoming leaders and not rulers. Yes, they can dictate who should be on this roster and who shouldn't, but the locker room is broken and leadership is thinning out.
It won't hurt the Rangers if Zibanejad turns his season around, but it won't fix everything. He is a leader, and he should be the top-line center, but he has to earn those titles back. A leader cannot be one of the worst in any category in this league.
Do you believe that ZIbanejad can turn it around this year?