While Kent Hughes would like to bolster his top-six with a new second line center this offseason, there are much more buyers than sellers out there and it may prove to be a tricky endeavour. However, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple a divorce between the New York Rangers and Swedish center Mike Zibanejad would be imminent.
While the 6-foot-two- and 203-pound pivot has spent much of the season centering the third-line behind Vincent Trotcheck and J.T. Miller, he could still play a second-line center role, especially with gifted teammates on his wings.
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In the last four seasons, the 32-year-old has only missed a couple of games, and recorded 81, 91, 72 and 62 points. While there was a sharp decrease in production this past season, it was the case for most of the Rangers players as the Blueshirts had their worst season for quite some time, even missing the playoffs for the first time in four years.
It was Jeff Gorton who traded for Zibanejad with the Ottawa Senators back in July 2016 sending Derrick Brassard and a 2018 seventh-round pick to the Sens in return for the Swede and a 2018 second-round pick.
The center will start the fourth year of an eight-year deal with an $8.5 M cap hit, meaning he’s signed through the end of the 2029-30 season, but he does have a no move clause, meaning he’s fully in charge of his destiny. Even if the player wants to leave New York, it doesn’t mean he’d be willing to go anywhere. He did however play the first five-years of his career in Ottawa, after the Sens had drafted him sixth overall at the 2011 draft, so the rough winters and the high tax rates wouldn’t come as a surprise to him.
With the cap set to go up for the next few years, the Montreal Canadiens could probably handle Zibanejad’s cap hit, but they may not get the best value for money in the last few years of his deal. However, we’ve seen Martin St-Louis convert veterans in effective role players in the past and give them a new lease of life so to speak, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher have both look rejuvenated this past season.
On top of being a real top-six option, the centerman also plays on the first power play and penalty kill units in New York and is as versatile as they come. He could make up for the loss of Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak if Hughes let them walk. Both players featured on the Habs PK and it could be hard to replace them with rookies or by captain Nick Suzuki who benefited from focusing more on attacking missions this last year.
Of course, getting an aging center might not be Hughes’ plan A, he would more than likely rather be able to land someone like Mason McTavish, but that might prove impossible with the market being what it is this season.
Photo credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
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