Zibanejad is a beast

[vippe]

I am sorry you are so sensitive. I am sure Zibanejad will be leading the league in scoring in 5 years.

I'm sure he wont.

Just calling out a bad take when I see one. And yours was spectacular.

 

[Leksand]

I usually don't take at face value when someone tries to quote a post from months ago as if it's completely indicative of current opinions. But I actually don't think much would change from that list. Zibanejad is a very good player, but he's not one of the elite centers in the game. I think the difference between Panarin and Zibanejad compared to Toews and Kane at their prime is that Toews and Kane were better, and they also had a prime Keith and Seabrook on the back-end, let alone another HOF winger Hossa. I think that Hawks dynasty was much better than this current Rangers team.

Saying that, I believe that the current Rangers team could be good enough to get into the playoffs this year, and next year is likely a near certainty. The offense is well-above average due to an elite forward in Panarin, an elite offensive blue line with DeAngelo, Fox and Trouba, and then some pretty good complimentary forwards with Zibanejad, Kreider, Buchnevich, and hopefully some further development in the next few seasons from Kakko, Chytil, and a few others. The defense probably won't be much better than average, but if you have an elite goalie, that can solve a lot of the defensive problems, and I think Shestyorkin is already doing that.

However, I would not say that this group with the Rangers is anywhere near that Hawks dynasty. Maybe they could eventually compete for a Cup with the blueprint of a very good offense, and an elite goalie making a mediocre defense into an above-average one, but there are plenty of good teams in the NHL. Only one wins every year. It's not an easy task.

Did not realize the post was months old. Still with just assuming he’s as good, but not better, as you suggested then I think it’s an interesting thought experiment. I take your points of course but just to keep on - say Kappo Kakko (?) would be anywhere near as good as advertised, I’d argue the Panarin Zibanejad core looks great to build on. And yes as I said the top Ds need to be great as well. Dynasties don’t come easily.