New York Rangers star center Mika Zibanejad reached the 1,000-game plateau Monday. Could Zibanejad's next milestone come as a member of a different team?
Veteran New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad played his 1,000th regular-season game Monday against his former team, the Ottawa Senators.
Zibanejad's longevity is a testament to his significant contributions in the NHL. With 30 goals and 67 points in 70 games this year, he has 19 more points than the next-most-productive Blueshirts player.
This is the eighth season he has produced at least 24 goals, and the fourth in which he has posted at least 30. He's also produced at least 62 points in seven seasons, and if he gets to the 70-point plateau this year, it will be the sixth time he's done that.
So Zibanejad has proven that after 1,000 NHL games, he's still an effective top-six center. But at 32, he's in the second half of his career and won't have endless chances of winning the Stanley Cup, especially on a team that's retooling. It feels like a trade would better help him pursue the Cup.
He's much like veteran center Nazem Kadri, who signed a seven-year contract with the Calgary Flames in 2022.
Kadri was their best center as the Flames missed the playoffs for three straight years. And while Kadri often maintained that he wanted to be with the Flames, in the first season after his no-move clause became a modified no-trade clause, he was traded back to the Colorado Avalanche at this year's trade deadline.
Although Rangers GM Chris Drury chose not to pursue a Zibanejad trade at the deadline, we have our suspicions that he's going to revisit the matter this summer.
Drury's letter to Rangers fans this season sparked speculation about the moves he's going to make in the off-season. His biggest trading chip shouldn't be Vincent Trocheck; it should be Zibanejad, who has another four seasons left on a contract paying him $8.5 million per season.
Zibanejad has lots of stellar play left in him. But the rebuilding Rangers aren't the best fit for him anymore.
Of course, Zibanejad's no-move clause gives him ultimate control over where he gets traded. But at this point in his career, staying in Manhattan as the Rangers turn the page on their current era and reload for a new generation probably isn't to his liking if he wants to win. He can sit back this summer and wait for a new team to express interest in acquiring him, and go to a location that gives him the best shot at winning a Stanley Cup.
Any team that pursues Zibanejad would be making a long-term investment in him, but he's something of an ironman, having missed only two regular-season games since 2017-18.
Zibanejad's playoff proficiency makes him all the more attractive an asset, as he's posted 44 points in his most recent 43 post-season games. Again, consistency is the key with this player.
At a time when the salary cap ceiling is rising exponentially, Zibanejad's salary isn't at all a burden, given how much he can help a team. He's a cost-certain contributor, and you'd better believe there are teams out there looking for someone exactly like him.
Getting to the 1,000-game level is an achievement Zibanejad can take pride in. But he has bigger fish to fry, and that's all about winning a Cup. It almost assuredly isn't going to happen for him with the Rangers, so Zibanejad would clearly be best-served by orchestrating his own exit out of New York City and starting anew with a new employer.
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