A Moment for Mika Zibanejad

July 18, 2016.

Almost a full decade ago, the New York Rangers made the difficult decision to move on from one of their top forwards in Derick Brassard. Initially acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the Marian Gaborik trade, Brassard played a key role in the Rangers' runs to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and the Eastern Conference Final in 2015. With Brassard nearing the end of his twenties, and the Rangers nearing what would become the end of their contention window, they saw the value in selling high in a deal that would land them a younger center with more long term potential.

Little did they know at the time, that decision would go on to be one of the greatest trades—if not the greatest trade—in New York Rangers history. 

The Rangers sent Brassard, as well as a seventh round draft pick in the 2018 draft, to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Mika Zibanejad and a 2018 second round selection. A sixth overall pick in the 2011 draft, Zibanejad was regarded as a clear top-ten prospect, as well as one of the most complete players in his draft class. A strong two-way center with great hands and a hard shot, Zibanejad was expected to be a top-six forward for a Senators team looking to become competitive again. Drawing comparisons to Ryan Kesler and—ironically for the Rangers—Bobby Holik, this was an NHL-ready player the Senators hoped would go on to have a long NHL career. 

Fortunately for the Rangers, that did become the case.

At the start of this week, Mika Zibanejad suited up for his 1,000th career game in the National Hockey League, becoming the 422nd player in NHL history to accomplish that feat. While Ottawa’s ambitions for their prospect came true, only 281 of those would come in a Senators jersey. The remaining 719 games and counting for Zibanejad would come in a Blueshirt, which results in him passing Andy Bathgate for 13th on the franchise's all time games played list, and leaving him just 53 games behind Adam Graves who sits at 12th. 

Before diving deeper into Zibanejad’s legacy as a New York Ranger, let’s talk about what his arrival really meant for this team.