How Mika Zibanejad was Found and Lost

Mika Zibanejad played game 1000 tonight in Madison Square Garden… against the team that drafted him. Considering Zibanejad now has 800 career points in 1000 career games, it may lead you to wonder how the hell Ottawa let him get away. Those that are unaware of his story may assume that Mika was a nobody when the Senators drafted him, but that is far from the truth. Mika Zibanejad entered the 2011 NHL draft as the biggest riser out of anyone there. Zibanejad had burst on to the scene in Sweden’s top league as a valuable contributor at just 17 years-old. That is an actual kid playing well in one of the best leagues in the world with men. That, combined with his appealing measurables and deep offensive toolbox had scouts salivating. Pretty much every draft board had him in the latter half of the top 10 with most having him going 10th overall to the Minnesota Wild. The Ottawa Senators, picking 6th overall, already had great Swedish players on the team with a legend in Daniel Alfredsson and a legend on the rise in Erik Karlsson. However, the real decider was likely a gap at center that the Sens had. With Mark Scheifele and Dougie Hamilton on the board, the Ottawa Senators selected Mika Zibanejad. Fast forward about a year and Zibanejad became the top prospect in Ottawa’s system. It certainly helped that Zibanejad had etched himself in hockey lore with a golden goal in overtime at the 2012 World Juniors to help Sweden win their first ever gold medal in the tournament. Mika had joined the Senators at the start of the season where he managed to get his first career assist in his NHL debut. But Ottawa sent him back to Sweden for the rest of 2011-12. He would never go back to Sweden after returning to Ottawa as his talent was far too good to deny. He had a couple brief stints in the AHL, but he was a regular in Ottawa’s lineup from 2013 to 2016. He put up 150 points in 272 games as a bottom 6 forward who eventually found his way to the 2nd line. He was a 20 goals scorer and 50 point getter by the time he was old enough to get a drink in the States. So what the hell happened? Why wasn’t Mika a lifelong Senator? On July 18th, 2016: the Senators sent Mike Zibanejad and a 2018 2nd round pick to the New York Rangers for a 2018 7th round pick and 29-year-old Derrick Brassard. Obviously, this trade has aged extremely poorly for the Senators, but even at the time it was questionable. Imagine if the Kraken traded Beniers along with a 2nd round pick for Nick Schmaltz. Not a bad trade for either side necessarily, but definitely highly questionable for the Kraken. Why did they do it? That’s the obvious question and it actually had a simple answer: money. The Senators were kinda loaded with young talent at this time. They had Erik Karlsson who was the best D-man in the NHL, Mark Stone who had emerged as a Selke candidate and point per game winger, Jean-Gabriel Pageau who had similarly emerged as a Selke-vote getter along with a few others all under the age of 25. The cap constraints the Senators were going to face when they inevitably had to pay all that talent made Zibanejad expendable. Zibanejad,of course, has made that decision look foolish with 656 points in 718 games, but perhaps he had to leave. In an article from the Athletic written by Arthur Staple in 2023: Bobby Ryan, who was Zibanejad’s linemate in Ottawa, claimed that Mika needed a change of scenery to transform into the player he is now. He also mentioned how Mika struggled with all the expectations that came with being a hyped prospect in a hockey city. Personally, I think that last part is BS since he became a hyped young player in New York, but I do think Ryan has a point about the change of scenery. The Senators played a defense-first forechecking style that fit Brassard better than it did Mika. In fact, in the very first season after the trade, Brassard played a major role alongside Karlsson and Stone in getting the Senators 1 Game 7 OT winner away from an appearance in the Stanley Cup final, ironically closer than Zibanejad has ever gotten with the Rangers. Still, hard to imagine New York isn’t ecstatic with how the trade has worked out. Mika currently sits tied for 4th all-time in goals, 9th in assists and 7th in points with the Rangers and will surely climb those leaderboards in the next few seasons, especially considering Mika has only missed 2 games in the last 4 seasons.