NHL.com is running their in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of the 32 teams. One column looks at three questions facing each team. The New York Rangers were featured this week. Dan Rosen wrote the column.
Will Mika Zibanejad play center or right wing?
Rosen opines – which is the prevailing view – that Zibanejad will likely start training camp as a right wing playing on a line with J.T. Miller at center. Anyone surprised by this clearly was not paying attention. Zibanajed struggled last season before Miller joined the Blueshirts. Later, the Rangers moved the Swedish veteran to wing. Finally, Mika seemed to settle in and find his game.
Coach Mike Sullivan said Zibanejad told him during their time together in Sweden that he felt he was beginning to establish chemistry playing on Miller’s right side late last season, saying he felt they complimented each other well.
“As part of that conversation one of the things he expressed to me is even though he lined up on the wing on the face-offs, he felt they were interchangeable in the sense that they could read off each other,” Sullivan said. “They both have a comfort level playing down low in the defensive zone. They both have a comfort level in the face-off circle with one being a righty and one being a lefty. He expressed that to me. I would envision us exploring that combination to see if they can potentially build on the chemistry that they’ve already built.”
Less skating, less two-way burden
Playing Zib at wing reduces some of the defensive pressure on him. In addition, that positioning also cuts the amount of skating he needs to do, as he looked to have lost a step last season. Moreover, having Miller and Zibanejad on the ice at the same time gives Sullivan options between the dots especially late in games.
What this move does do is reduce the depth down the middle. Vincent Trocheck, who also struggled last season, will be the 1 or 2c. Penciled in as the 3c will be Jusso Parsinnen, who went from Nashville to Colorado and then New York. He tallied six goals and 10 assists across 48 NHL regular-season games between the three spots, doing little to show he is ready for a full time role.
Despite his so-so campaign, GM Chris Drury inked Parsinnen to a two-year, $2.5 million extension with the Rangers in May. Parssinen, a seventh-round pick in 2020, will get a chance to show he can man a bottom-six role. However, if he falters, few options remain for New York. The team might have to move Zibanejad back to center and hope one of their prospects is ready for a top-six role.
If you move Zib to second line center and Trochek to the third line, you have great center depth and must rely on some rookies to fill the wing positions. What is the lesser of the two evils? Strong center depth, weak wingers. Or weak at center and strong at the wing?
That’s the dilemma. If one of the kids are ready,, moving Zib back to center becomes a lot easier.
If Zib switches back to Center, is that really depth?? He regressed the past 2 years, yes you can say the whole team did but the year before everyone had a career year but not him. We will see which Mika shows up, Mika the player or Mika the Dj.
Two years with Lavi, two poor years
Coincidence or correlation?
Lavi’s first year everyone had a career year but not Mika, take it however you want. Plus Mika was a fizure on the PP and that didnt help his stats. Someone did an analytical sweep of Mikas stats and it wasnt good.
That first year of Lavy was just a continuation of what Gallant had put together and Lavy added a bit of his own spin on it. Year 2 we got to see the full boat from Lavy. We didnt like the way Gallant coached, but maybe he was a better coach than we gave him credit for.
Also a long shot, but Edstrom has the tools to be a shut down 3c. Depth is in question, no doubt, but they do have a fair amount of options to fill out the 3c role.
Rather see Edstrom initially on the fourth line with Carrick and Rempe as an energy, momentum shifting unit.
I think we will see a mix of both. Its kind of unfair to Trocheck to break up the line with LAF and Bread since Zib really hasnt done anything to bump Trocheck. At the same time, I think it would be incredibly beneficial for the kids to have Trocheck center them. This also, ultimately, bumps Parssinen out of the starting lineup. They need to figure out how to consolidate this “depth”.
Right now, it’s Zib on wing. If Perreault or Othmann prove worthy of a top six role, then you can make a change. I don’t love Parsinnen as the 3C but let’s see what he can do.
Hi all, long time reader from the old site but never commented before. Figured I’d use the move over here to say introduce myself to the community. Trying to keep positive about the upcoming season. I really thought Zib was going to be moved instead of Kreider, but hopefully he can keep building chemistry with JT and the teams finds more success this season. I’m really excited to see what Fox and Gavrikov will too!
Thanks for posting!
Well, Mika’s future is completely controlled by Mika. So if he doesnt want to leave, he wont.
The NMC was given to him and now he holds the power. They worked with CK20 to make a deal. Zib doesn’t want to go, so he is staying.
Thanks for joining and welcome to the party
Thanks, Jan. I was just surprised that Zib didn’t want to leave. From the few games I was able to see, he seemed so much more disengaged than Kreider (who was playing hurt).
Same as me.