Elliotte Friedman shares major trade news involving Mika Zibanejad and the New York Rangers
The New York Rangers have traded out a lot of their veteran talent and core players and now it looks like Mika Zibanejad may be next per Elliotte Friedman.
Earlier this month, the New York Rangers played hard-ball with Jacob Trouba and forced him to accept a trade to a team he did not want to go to, Anaheim. This set a precedent that the Rangers will be moving to make any move necessary and will get rid of their core if push comes to shove.
Recently, eyes have now turned on Mika Zibanejad. The New York Rangers centerman has struggled this year scoring 21 points through 35 games and could find himself in trade rumors sooner rather than later despite his No-Movement Clause.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman spoke on the matter in a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast sharing that the Rangers could play hardball with Zibanejad, like they did with Trouba, and get him moved out.
Friedman also added that almost certainly more is coming in New York.
Zibanejad is in the third year of an eight-year contract and is 31 years old. With this much term left on his contract and with him being this old, it may be difficult for the Rangers to find fair value for Zibanejad.
At his best, Zibanejad is one of the best players in the NHL and a threat to score at any moment. In 2019-20, Zibanejad scored 41 goals and 75 points in only 57 games. This equates to a 59-goal and 108-point pace over 82 games. In 2022-23, Zibanejad scored 39 goals and 91 points proving he was still a fantastic player.
However, last year his numbers started to decline a bit with him scoring only 72 points in 81 games. While these are fantastic numbers for most NHL players, it is not what Rangers fans had gotten used to and what Rangers management expected.
This year could spell the end for Zibanejad and if he were to get moved to another team, he could bounce back immediately but nothing is certain till it happens.
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