Colin Stephenson: Mika Zibanejad plays 1,000th game, ranks up there with Rangers' greats
Mika Zibanejad of the Rangers waves to the crowd after a pregame ceremony honoring his 1,000th NHL game before a game against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
On one end of the spectrum is rookie Drew Fortescue, who signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers over the weekend and wasn’t in the lineup Monday night at Madison Square Garden against Ottawa. Fortescue, 20, is waiting to make his NHL debut at some point in the remaining 11 games.
On the other is Mika Zibanejad, who on Monday played in his 1,000th NHL game in the Rangers’ 2-1 loss to the Senators.
Afterward, someone asked him what — in the 1,000 games he had played — the hardest thing would have been for a young Zibanejad to have imagined.
“That I played 1,000 games?’’ he responded. “I mean, I never thought I was gonna play in the NHL, let alone play 1,000 games. So to be here now is a cool achievement for sure.’’
Fittingly, Zibanejad’s milestone came against the team that drafted him in the first round (sixth overall) in 2011. Ottawa traded him to the Rangers in the summer of 2016, along with a second-round pick, for Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick.
Zibanejad helped get the Rangers through their last rebuild, and over the years, he has developed into one of the franchise’s greatest, perhaps most underappreciated players.
Now he’s going to be asked to help them get through their next transition phase, leading Fortescue, Gabe Perreault and other as-yet-unknown prospects as the Rangers try to get back to being a Stanley Cup contender.
Yet when people sit around discussing the all-time greats who have worn the Rangers jersey, Zibanejad probably isn’t one of the names that comes quickly to mind. He’s not as beloved as Rod Gilbert, Ed Giacomin, Brian Leetch, Mark Messier, Mike Richter, Henrik Lundqvist or even his good friend Chris Kreider. And when he struggled so badly last season, more than a few fans wanted him traded away.
But the native of Stockholm, Sweden, now in his 10th season with the Rangers, has bounced back this season, and he’s climbed up enough statistical ladders to put him firmly on track to have his No. 93 retired someday.
On Monday, when the Rangers tied a team record for fewest shots in a game with nine, Zibanejad had three of them, including one from point-blank range with 8:52 left in the third period that would have tied it if not for a great save by James Reimer.
On Sunday, he scored his 30th goal of the season in a 3-2 shootout loss to Winnipeg, a classic left-circle one-timer on a power play for his 280th goal with the team. That tied him with Adam Graves for the fourth-most goals in club history.
Earlier this season, Zibanejad became the franchise leader in power-play goals. His two hat tricks this season tied him with the first great Ranger, Bill Cook, for the franchise lead with nine.
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan was asked at Monday’s morning skate what playing in 1,000 games signified to him.
“You think about 100 years of NHL hockey and think about how many players have participated over the 100 years, there aren’t a lot of guys that play that amount of games,’’ Sullivan said. “And I think it speaks to a few things: I think it speaks to, first and foremost, his passion for the game, his love of the game, wanting to play and continue to be his best. I think it speaks to his elite level talent. Because . . . the guys that tend to reach those milestones are elite players from a talent standpoint.’’
Zibanejad established himself as a top player after the original rebuild letter in 2018. He had 30 goals for the first time in 2018-19, then had 41 in 57 games the following season. If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, he might have reached 50.
From 2018-25, when the Rangers were building themselves into a group that reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2022 and 2024, Zibanejad had 443 points in 439 games.
So he’s had some experience in this rebuilding stuff, though he’s pointed out that things are different now than in 2018, when the first letter was sent.
“It’s a completely different situation I was in when the first one came out,’’ he told Newsday in late January. “It’s different people. It’s different from management side, from the player side, and how we’re about to build.’’
In his Jan. 16 message to the fans, general manager Chris Drury called the transition the Rangers were about to undertake a “retool’’ rather than a rebuild, implying that the process doesn’t need to last too long. But the clock is ticking on Zibanejad, who will be 33 on April 18.
He’s probably nearing the end of his prime years, and by the time the Rangers are ready to contend again, there’s no assurance he’ll still be a top player.
He’s been asked more than once if he might be willing to waive his no-move clause to facilitate a trade to a team capable of contending for a Stanley Cup. He’s responded that he’s committed to staying and helping the Rangers dig themselves out of the hole they’re in now.
That loyalty to the organization, along with the numbers he’s starting to pile up, should elevate his status and make him one of the most important players in team history. Fans should appreciate him now.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
