Mika Zibanejad

Mika Zibanejad (born 18 April 1993) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He began playing hockey at the age of six in Hammarby IF, where he played a total of seven seasons before the club went bankrupt in 2008.

Zibanejad then moved to AIK IF's youth organization for the following season, where he began playing junior hockey.

He was acquired by Djurgårdens IF for the 2009–10 season to play in the organization's J18-team and J20-team.

Zibanejad made his Elitserien debut on 7 December 2010, against Luleå HF, and scored his first Elitserien goal on 15 January 2011, against Tuomas Tarkki of Modo Hockey.

He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2010 KHL Junior Draft by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, 129th overall.

However, the season did not go well and the Rangers failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

The Rangers announced they were rebuilding and proceeded to jettison veteran players while retaining young talent like Zibanejad.

Zibanejad primarily lined up with Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich, but also saw significant time with Jesper Fast.

Zibanejad was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators.

He made the Senators lineup out of training camp to start the 2011–12 season, but was returned to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden after scoring one point in nine NHL games with Ottawa.

On 7 February 2011, Zibanejad signed a two-year contract extension with Djurgården.

Zibanejad became a regular player in the senior roster after his debut, playing in 26 of the remaining 29 games.

He scored five goals and nine points, which made him the third most successful junior player 18 years or younger in the organization and playing with the senior team, behind Fredrik Bremberg and Jacob Josefson.

On 13 July 2011, Zibanejad signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators, the team that drafted him sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

After an impressive training camp, Zibanejad joined the Senators for their first game of the 2011–12 season.

He registered his first career NHL point in his first game, an assist on a goal by Filip Kuba in a 5–3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

After just one point in nine games played, Zibanejad was reassigned to his most recent club, Djurgårdens IF, on 26 October.

Zibanejad has represented Sweden on the international stage, helping the junior team win the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the senior team win the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

Zibanejad played association football as a child before deciding to pursue hockey.

In June 2012, Zibanejad was rumoured to be a key part of a package Ottawa was offering to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for disgruntled superstar Rick Nash.

The offer was allegedly withdrawn when Columbus general manager Scott Howson informed the Senators Nash was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to accept a move to Ottawa.

In August 2012, the Senators announced Zibanejad would spend the 2012–13 season in North America, either in the NHL with the Senators or with the club's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Binghamton Senators.

Due to the NHL lockout, Zibanejad began the season with Binghamton, where he registered 11 points in 23 games while battling injuries.

He was called up to Ottawa on 28 January 2013, and played in his first NHL game of the season on 29 January against the Washington Capitals, a game in which he was selected as the first star.

The following night, on 30 January in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Zibanejad scored his first career NHL goal.

The goal came on the power play against goaltender Peter Budaj and with assists from Colin Greening and André Benoit.

In the 2015–16 season, Zibanejad scored a career high 21 goals with 30 assists.

On 18 July 2016, after five seasons within the Senators organization, Zibanejad was traded to the Rangers.

On 18 July 2016, Zibanejad was traded by the Senators to the New York Rangers (along with a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft) in exchange for Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

He had one year remaining on his contract before becoming eligible as a restricted free agent whereas Brassard had three left on his.

On 20 November 2016, during a game against the Florida Panthers, Zibanejad suffered a gruesome injury in overtime when he went hard with his left leg into the boards while trying to get in front of Reilly Smith.

After the game, which the Rangers eventually lost 3–2 in a shootout, it was announced that he had broken his left fibula and would miss six to eight weeks.

He returned to the Rangers lineup against the Dallas Stars on 17 January 2017 after missing 25 games; he scored two goals in the 7–6 Rangers loss.

The Rangers made the playoffs at the end of the season.

On 20 April 2017, Zibanejad scored the overtime winning goal in Game 5 of the 2017 NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Montreal Canadiens.

After the Rangers eliminated the Canadiens, Zibanejad met his former team, the Senators, in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

Ottawa would triumph in six games but Zibanejad led his team in scoring during the playoffs, registering nine points in 12 games.

After trading first-line centre Derek Stepan, the Rangers avoided arbitration with Zibanejad, signing him to a five-year, $26.75 million contract extension on 25 July 2017.

With Stepan's departure this made Zibanejad the Rangers' new first line centre for the 2017–18 season.