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Player Discussion Mika Zibanejad: Part II

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HockeyBasedNYC

HockeyBasedNYC

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I feel like we are kinda taking Zibs for granted sometimes. A lot of the hype is on Kakko, Panarin and the kids right now, as it should be - but Mika is no f***ing joke. Honestly, he has become a player I don't think anyone expected we would have when we traded for him.

4 point night in game 1. He is the real deal, #1 center this team has needed for a while and he is such a unique player who blends size and skill.

Moving Brassard at the top of his value for this kid may go down as one of the best moves in franchise history and he's only 26.

And I don't know if anyone else noticed, but his forward lean in his skating stride has gotten even deeper now, if thats even possible. On that breakaway goal his spine was at an angle that was less than parallel to the ice. That is such a unique, unnatural, confident skating stride while stickhandling and finishing a play. Most players at any level would fall over trying to do that.

I'm really marveling at how he has developed as a player and a leader. He is really something. But im glad he didn't get the C, yet.
 
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RangersFan1994

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Aug 20, 2019
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HockeyBasedNYC said:
I feel like we are kinda taking Zibs for granted sometimes. A lot of the hype is on Kakko, Panarin and the kids right now, as it should be - but Mika is no ****ing joke. Honestly, he has become a player I don't think anyone expected we would have when we traded for him.

4 point night in game 1. He is the real deal, #1 center this team has needed for a while and he is such a unique player who blends size and skill.

Moving Brassard at the top of his value for this kid may go down as one of the best moves in franchise history and he's only 26.

And I don't know if anyone else noticed, but his forward lean in his skating stride has gotten even deeper now, if thats even possible. On that breakaway goal his spine was at an angle that was less than parallel to the ice. That is such a unique, unnatural, confident skating stride while stickhandling and finishing a play. Most players at any level would fall over trying to do that.

I'm really marveling at how he has developed as a player and a leader. He is really something. But im glad he didn't get the C, yet.
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I don't want him to have the C. personally let Staal get the C. with the way this team has traded captains maybe it would raise his value to zero lmfao but seriously I would not want Mika to put that pressure on himself because he would be named Captain. remember when Leetch was captain. the same quiet personality I don't feel would be a good captain but you never know.
 
KirkAlbuquerque

KirkAlbuquerque

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Mar 12, 2014
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he's a beast. Put up great numbers last year with only half season of Zucc and Kreider for a team that packed it in around January, now playing with top end guys like Panarin, Trouba, and (hopefully) Kakko he's going to put up bigger numbers and get the respect he deserves. He looks so confident and powerful out on the ice, he's got me feeling some kind of way
 
Edge

Edge

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HockeyBasedNYC said:
I feel like we are kinda taking Zibs for granted sometimes. A lot of the hype is on Kakko, Panarin and the kids right now, as it should be - but Mika is no ****ing joke. Honestly, he has become a player I don't think anyone expected we would have when we traded for him.

4 point night in game 1. He is the real deal, #1 center this team has needed for a while and he is such a unique player who blends size and skill.

Moving Brassard at the top of his value for this kid may go down as one of the best moves in franchise history and he's only 26.

And I don't know if anyone else noticed, but his forward lean in his skating stride has gotten even deeper now, if thats even possible. On that breakaway goal his spine was at an angle that was less than parallel to the ice. That is such a unique, unnatural, confident skating stride while stickhandling and finishing a play. Most players at any level would fall over trying to do that.

I'm really marveling at how he has developed as a player and a leader. He is really something. But im glad he didn't get the C, yet.
Click to expand...

So I just did a little research and calculated that since February 28, 2018 (the final 5 weeks of the 2017-18 season), Zibanejad has scored 94 points in his last 101 games.

When we acquired him, he was only 23, and even now he's still only 26.

But Zibanejad was a high pick, a riser and a bit of a wildcard in his draft year. Scouts loved the skill/size combination and the way he played, but he was definitely a pick where your taking him early with an eye towards the type of prospect and player he could be, rather than what he was on draft day.

Not unlike several of the other centers/forwards taken in that 2011 draft, it's really in the last two years that pieces have really come together for him.

But I've always felt he's flown under the radar for us a bit around here --- both when we acquired him, and as he's improved and progressed.

I think we almost forgot how young he was, and reactions at the time would have you think there was only a couple of years difference between him and Brassard. Then I think we almost tended to forget that he was a high draft pick as well. Even though Zibanejad has always been an intriguing combination, there was a tendency to view him as a finished product. In other words, he was what he was.

In reality he was the same age ADA when he made his Rangers debut, and only about 9 months older than Boo Nieves, who was still looked at as a prospect as recently as last season.

Switching gears, but on a somewhat related note, I think it's fair to suggest the Rangers really liked a lot of the talent in the first few rounds of the 2011 draft.

Of the 30 picks in the first round, 3 of the first 15 picks, and 6 players overall have played for the Rangers in a regular season game. A seventh player got a tryout with us this summer, wore the jersey in the preseason, and was just released.

Another 3 players from the second round have played for us and spent time in the organization, along with another 2 from the third round who played for the Rangers, as well as a third who played in Hartford.

So that's 8 of the top 38 picks in that draft, 9 if you count the tryout, or 13 of the top 76 picks who have some connection to this franchise.
 
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HockeyBasedNYC

HockeyBasedNYC

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Screen Shot 2019-10-04 at 4.56.02 PM.png


LOL

Makeis Abanishadd

:biglaugh:
 
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Edge

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90+ points on a roster that features Panarin, and potentially what Kreider, Kakko, Kravtsov and company bring is not an unreasonable expectation at all.

If all goes reasonably well, he should be at that plateau for the next several years.
 
NYR94

NYR94

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Mar 31, 2005
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MahomesIsGod said:
But ya Zibby is going over ppg and frankly I’d guess 90+ points. Him and Panarin are going to be ****ing disgusting all year. They could both drop 90 tbh.
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Yeah I agree. Panarin is the best player Mika has had on his line. Mika is probably the 2nd best player after Patrick Kane that Panarin has played with. Should be good.

Mika lead the 2nd highest scoring Ranger last year by 22 points (74 to Kreider's 52). Should be a smaller gap between 1 and 2 this year.
 
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