Mika Zibanejad is entering his eighth season with the New York Rangers. As one of their most prolific goal scorers, how many points will he finish with in the 2023-24 campaign?
Mika Zibanejad is entering his eighth season with the New York Rangers. As one of their most prolific goal scorers, how many points will he finish with in the 2023-24 campaign?
Mika Zibanejad has had quite an incredible career thus far playing in the Big Apple. His point totals have increased year by year (aside from the shortened COVID season), but will a new coaching staff have an impact on his offensive production?
The Rangers have a ton of offensive weapons on their roster, but in my personal opinion, Zibanejad is the driver. When he is on his game, nobody is stopping him, especially in "Mika March".
Last season, Zibanejad finished with a career-high 91 points (39 goals, 52 assists) in all 82 games played, just one point shy of Artemi Panarin for the team lead (92). Where Zibanejad poses the biggest threat to his opponents is on the left circle during the man-advantage, which many people know as the "Ovi Office". Considering that he has the second-most power-play goals in the NHL dating back to the 2019-20 season (60 G) only behind Leon Draisaitl (87 G), Zibanejad is making a case for that spot on the left circle to be a shared office space.
The NHL.com Fantasy Hockey staff has Zibanejad's point total at 84 for this coming season, but let's remember that he outperformed his offensive projections last season, leaving me to believe that he can do it once again.
In the 2022-23 campaign, Zibanejad skated to a +8.5 goals above expected and finished with a 15.5% shooting percentage, which had been at 13.2% the year before, per MoneyPuck.
Going into this season, it can be assumed that Zibanejad will center a line between Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko. Of course, nothing is solidified yet, but these three looked phenomenal together in the 26 games that they played together last season.
Zibanejad struggled in last year's playoff series against the New Jersey Devils, putting up just one goal and three assists in seven games. Having a coach like Peter Laviolette will only benefit his game, his intensity could help Zibanejad find some more consistency to his game night in and night out.
The power play is where Zibanejad finds most of his success. I believe he will put up 40 points minimum on the man-advantage since he is the go-to look on the first unit. Last season, he had 50 even-strength points, and considering the fact that he teeters around that range, I can see Zibanejad reaching that 95-point plateau this season. I feel strongly that he will lead the team in points this season while tallying 40+ goals.
My point prediction for Zibanejad is 94 (43 goals, 51 assists).
