Zibanejad eyes next step with Rangers
There seemingly is a clear understanding from Mika Zibanejad about the shoes he has to fill, and the newest Ranger knows everyone’s looking for what he described as his “breakout year.”
Zibanejad met the media Friday for the first time since the July 18 trade that shipped Derick Brassard to Ottawa and brought back Zibanejad. Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton made his team younger and faster and decreased his salarycap obligations — those things are indisputable. But did he make his team better? Senators GM Pierre Dorion recently said he got the better player out of the deal, but Zibanejad hopes to disprove that.
“For me, it’s just focusing on more proving the Rangers right than Ottawa wrong,” Zibanejad said. “I’m just really, really excited for this opportunity and looking forward to it.”
Brassard, 28, was a leader for the Blueshirts, both on the ice and in the locker room, an integral part of the team that made it to the 2014 Stanley Cup final and the conference final the next season. But his $5 million annual salary-cap hit for the next three seasons was a large deterrent for Gorton, who is trying to rebuild his team without ripping apart the foundation.
Zibanejad, 23, has one more year left on a deal with a cap hit of $2.625 million, then becomes an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. The 6-foot-2, 211-pound center out of Stockholm was the No. 6 overall selection in the 2011 draft. His statistical production has increased in each year he has been in the league, peaking with 21 goals and 51 points in 81 games last season.
“As far as where I’m at in my stage in my career, the level I’m at right now, I want to take the next step,” he said. “I want that to be a big jump. I’m trying to take it step by step all the time, but I think I’m waiting and people are waiting for my breakout year. That’s what I’m hoping for, that’s what I’m working towards, to have it. I feel like in this stage in my career, I’m ready for that.”
Despite a first-round ouster at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins this past spring, the Blueshirts still will have their sights set to the highest bar — and Zibanejad now is looking with them.