2025 Report Card: Mika Zibanejad

This post is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2024-25 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

Expectations

In 2023-24, during the Rangers’ best season in franchise history, Mika Zibanejad’s production took a step back. For the Rangers’ de facto number one center to have a successful year, his production needed to improve, and he needed to rediscover his goal-scoring ability to become a true asset for the team.

Aside from scoring, there are other areas Zibanejad needed to address to ensure a successful season. Given his hefty price tag of $8.5 million and a full no-movement clause, he needed to excel in all situations for the Rangers, effectively shutting down the top forwards of opposing teams during both even-strength and penalty kill situations. Additionally, Zibanejad needed to avoid the cold streaks that have often plagued him throughout his career and fully embrace his leadership role to help guide the Rangers through the ups and downs of an 82-game season.

Performance

Zibanejad’s performance throughout the season is captured in two stories. But before we break that down, let’s review the overall numbers. In 82 games, Zibanejad scored 20 goals and 42 assists, averaging .75 points per game, which is his lowest production rate since his second season on the team back in 2017-18. His power play points also took a serious hit, with seven goals and 12 assists scored with the extra man, down 12 points from the previous season. While nearly the entire team underperformed this year, Zibanejad’s struggles were often critically analyzed as his role and contract demanded more from the Rangers’ top pivot.

The disappointing statistics continue as his shooting percentage dropped almost a whole point to 10.9 percent, while registering far fewer shot attempts and shots on goal. Two particularly troubling statistics for Zibanejad are his 83 giveaways, which is a career worst for him, and his -22. Plus/minus is not a serious statistic, but Zibanejad is trusted in critical moments of games, and his plus/minus being the worst on the team speaks volumes about the Rangers’ season.

Another detail of Zibanejad's season that should be discussed is the volatility of the Rangers' lineup. Several key players for the team had stability in their deployment and linemates in 2024-25, and Zibanejad was not one of them. For context, Vincent Trocheck played 50.4 percent of his even-strength minutes with the same linemates. Zibanejad only spent 22 percent of his even-strength ice time with the same line. After that, he endured dozens of combinations that saw him play with almost every single forward that cycled through the roster from Brett Berard to Arthur Kaliyev. Even Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, who were both sent to entirely new teams, had more ice time with consistent linemates. This point should be moot for a player of Zibanejad's caliber, but when you add this to an already difficult season, it's bound to add more stress and hardship.

Putting all of Zibanejad's struggles aside, small glimpses of success were scattered throughout his 2024-25 campaign. Though, truthfully, these positives were not often given much weight. First, his face-off winning percentage was a solid 52 percent. The Rangers have a few face-off specialists, but Zibanejad’s performance at the dot this year was his best in three seasons. Second, his possession metrics were mostly positive. Even during a dreadful year, he found a way to help his team control the puck for the majority of time he was on the ice. Finally, Zibanejad’s year can be bisected: the first half of the season, where he and the rest of the team performed miserably, and the second half, where his production and game turned around.

Many may disagree, but Zibanejad was not a problem during the second half of the season. This was particularly evident after the J.T. Miller trade. His move to right wing and skating alongside Miller revitalized Zibanejad’s game. Whether the pressure of playing center was the issue or a combination of factors from the Rangers’ abhorrent season that snowballed downhill, bringing every player down, the injection of Miller into the lineup solved the Mika problem.

Grades

Author Grade: C-

Banter Consensus: C-

Final Evaluation

The New York Rangers faced a challenging year, especially after Drury publicly announced he was shopping both Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider, which was soon followed by the departure of their captain, delivering a significant blow to their already weakened locker room chemistry. Zibanejad, who has openly acknowledged struggling with the emotional aspects in the game of hockey, could not overcome the team's obstacles and the negative attention that focused in on his performance. He struggled to get out of his own way, while the trials and tribulations put the Blueshirts through the ringer in 2024.

Zibanejad’s strong gameplay down the season's final stretch doesn’t excuse his absence and inability to score or lead the Rangers through the extended slump and poor play that began to plague them in the fall and ultimately set them up to fail and miss the playoffs. His poor start led to many speculations that Drury would openly look to move Zibanejad in the offseason. But judging by his resurgence and continued performance at the World Championships—five goals and three assists in nine games—he has not taken a permanent step back and it’s very likely with a full season playing alongside Miller and a more productive power play, he will regain his previous form that led to his lucrative contract.

It was a challenging year for Zibanejad, like most Rangers, but it's more than possible that we see his production and game recover and elevate back to his career average.