Mika Zibanejad set for Rangers rebound after ‘outlier’ season, Jonny Lazarus says on podcast

A lot of criticism was heaped on Mika Zibanejad last season when the New York Rangers fell short of reaching the Stanley Cup Final, much less winning their first championship in 30 years. But Jonny Lazarus from Daily Faceoff and Morning Cuppa Hockey told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast that 2023-24 was an “outlier” season for the Rangers star center and there’s going to be course correction this season.
“I’m thinking — I’m hoping — last year was an outlier for what has been a fully healthy, productive career with the Rangers,” Lazarus said on the Rangers season preview edition of the podcast.
“He’s never had injury issues, he’s always been healthy, always produced. Last year was a bad year, a down year. No one’s denying that. … I’ve said, I’ve flirted with it, I think Mika could pot home 35-40 (goals) again. But he’s got to be a shooter because last year he was not.”
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Last season, Zibanejad had his lowest full-season point production (71) since 2017-18, when he had 47 points in 72 games. His goal total year-over-year from 2022-23 to 2023-24 dropped by 13 (39-26) and his points fell by 19 (91-72).
Zibanejad ranked fifth on the Rangers in scoring last season and fourth in goals. He was second in power-play goals with 12 and also had two shorthanded tallies. He had only 12 even-strength goals and went months without scoring one in the middle of the season.
LISTEN to Rangers season preview podcast with Jim Cerny and Jonny Lazarus here
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 31-year-old center led the Rangers with 13 assists and was second with 16 points in 16 games. But he drew much criticism for scoring three goals in the postseason, only one at even strength and none in the final 11 games.
“Hopefully he learned from that and can learn from that this year and I’m excited to hopefully see Mika shut some haters up,” Lazarus stated. “He knows, he’s aware. He talked about it at the end of the year, the 5-on-5 play, the lack of production. … Hoping he figures it out.”
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Mika Zibanejad’s production with Rangers discussed on Rink Rap podcast

Zibanejad has scored 20 or more goals in seven consecutive seasons and nine times total in his NHL career. He has 70 + points in five of the past six seasons. He’s also had 15 or more power-play goals three times, including a whopping 20 in 2022-23.
Simply, he’s a high-end center who, as coach Peter Laviolette likes to point out, is also matched against other team’s top lines in a defensive role, too. But everyone agrees, he needs to produce more 5v5 this season and push his overall point total up again.
What riles up Lazarus more than anything when it comes to the Zibanejad criticism — which he agrees is warranted for the most part — is the notion that the No. 93 should lose his spot on the power play in favor of Alexis Lafreniere. And that’s saying something because Lazarus is on the record stating Lafreniere will be a 100-point scorer one day.
“There are a lot of people who think he should be taken off the power play. You take away Mika’s one-time threat, it ruins the whole entire set up,” Lazarus explained. “Taking him off might limit [Chris] Kreider’s production. There’s all these little butterfly effects that happen when you switch something like that up. I think Mika’s spot is the most important spot on the power play, which is why Lafreniere can’t be on it right now.”
It should be noted the Rangers power play ranked third in the NHL last season. And Laviolette is sticking with Zibanejad, Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Adam Fox on PP1 as usual for the season opener Wednesday.
At 5v5, Zibanejad and Kreider have a new linemate — again — this time veteran forward Reilly Smith, who’s coming off a down season with the Pittsburgh Penguins but seemed to mesh well with the other two in the preseason. We’ll see how that goes, as even Lazarus admits that might not be a permanent fix and general manager Chris Drury could be shopping again for a right wing ahead of the trade deadline.
Hear more Rangers opinions from Jonny Lazarus on the latest Rink Rap podcast
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