When the New York Rangers acquired Mika Zibanejad and a 2nd round pick in exchange for Derick Brassard, I remember exactly where I was. I was working at a summer camp, rounding up the kids to line up to go home. One of my favorite co-workers who has the misfortune of being a die-hard New York Islanders fan came up to me, screaming “the Rangers traded Brassard!!!! Hahaha what a stupid organization, trading one of their best players!”
I asked who they traded him for, and the coworker said, and I quote, “some scrub named Mika Zibanejad!”
I will admit I wasn’t quite as knowledgeable back then, so my primary thought at the time was simply, “who?”
Many Rangers fans felt at the time of the Mika Zibanejad trade that the Rangers made a mistake. Brassard had been crushing it for the Blueshirts and Zibanejad had a couple of good seasons but hadn’t truly broken out yet. Fast forward to today, and Zibanejad has been one of the most valuable Rangers ever.
How do we come to terms with Mika Zibanejad’s career, though? This is a player who never truly competed for any major award, never made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and at this point in his career is someone fans look at as a potential negative if his decline is real. If you told Rangers fans they could make a Brassard-like trade with Zibanejad going out this time, fans would jump on it.
Still, Zibanejad has been an awesome Ranger. A playoff OT winner, a five goal game, countless regular season OT winners, and an endless amount of strong penalty-killing. He has also been the best Rangers forward to start this season, and it’s not even particularly close.
There was a chance going into this offseason that it would be Zibanejad getting traded, not his best friend Chris Kreider. Kreider had the easier contract to move though, so Zibanejad remains in blue. This is arguably the most important season of Zibanejad’s career. For the first time in a long time, many are doubting his ability to put pucks in the back of the net, keep up with the pace of the NHL, and serve as a true top-line talent.
I’d argue Zibanejad’s greatest chance at winning back the trust of the fans is to solidify his spot as a top-six center, not by emerging as J.T. Miller’s right-winger for the long term. Sure, the Rangers need a right-winger, but the team’s best chance at having a genuine strength over other teams is being able to ice J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, and either Noah Laba or Sam Carrick as their four centers. There are very few teams in the NHL that could top that.
Mika Zibanejad may never win a Stanley Cup or finish top three in any major voting. But he has proved tons of memories for Rangers fans. This season, it’s time for him to show he can provide even more.
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