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| The Rangers acquired Mika Zibanejad from the Senators in a trade on Monday. |
Below is a bio on Zibanejad.
In 2015-16 with the Ottawa Senators, Zibanejad established new NHL career highs in goals (21), assists (30), points (51) and games (81), and led the Senators while concluding the season in a tie for 11th among NHL players with seven game-winning goals. The seven game-winning goals were the first seven of his NHL career after having registered his first on Oct. 14 at Columbus (7-3 win). He tied for the team lead as one of only two Senators (Turris) with multiple game-deciding shootout goals. He scored the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career on Oct. 22 vs. New Jersey (5-4 SO loss), and recorded three points in one game for the third time in his career (and for the second time this season) on Dec. 14 vs. Los Angeles (5-3 win). In tandem with Mike Hoffman (two goals, one assist), his three-point game (one goal, two assists) helped Ottawa to a second consecutive win over the Kings for only the second time (and for the first time since Dec. 3, 1998). In conjuction with Mark Borowiecki, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Bobby Ryan, he scored one of the team’s four third period goals to help the Senators recover from a two-goal deficit with less than 12 minutes remaining to earn a win in regulation time for only the second time in franchise history on Jan. 16 at Los Angeles (5-3 win). The win over the Kings saw the club extend its winning streak against Los Angeles to three for the first time (including two consecutive wins at STAPLES Center/at L.A. for the first time) while its regular season series sweep of the Kings was the team’s first of at least two games.
Zibanejad recorded the fastest hat trick in franchise history when he scored three goals in a span of 2:38 of the third period to help the team recover from a 4-2 third period deficit on Feb. 27 at Calgary (6-4 win). His three goals in three or fewer minutes against the Flames saw him become the first NHL player since teammate Bobby Ryan accomplished the feat while a member of the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 8, 2009, while he also became the first NHL player to help his team recover from a two-goal third period deficit by recording a natural hat trick since Edmonton’s Taylor Hall did so on Feb. 19, 2011, against Atlanta.
The 6'2", 222-pounder was one of two Senators (Hoffman) who scored to tie a game inside of regulation’s final minute in an eventual overtime win -- the first such occasion that the team has earned two comeback wins of that kind in the same season – on March 15 vs. Minnesota (3-2 OT win). He became the fifth Senator (Daigle, Havlat, Hossa and Yashin) to score 20 or more goals during two separate seasons before his 23rd birthday for the club when he reached the 50-point plateau for the first time in his NHL career on April 7 vs. Florida (3-1 win).
Zibanejad sustained a head injury on Dec. 1 vs. Philadelphia (4-2 loss) that caused him to miss the team’s next game.
In 2014-15, Zibanejad established new statistical career highs in all major categories; goals (20), assists (26), points (46), penalty minutes (20) and games (80). He Improved to nine-for-19 for his NHL career in shootout attempts after converting on five of 11 attempts. He recorded a two-goal game (on two occasions) for the first time in his NHL career, and Registered a new career best with four points (two goals, two assists) to help the Senators recover from a 3-0 deficit to earn a win on Dec. 7, 2014. vs. Vancouver (4-3 OT win). He Matched his career high in goals (16) while establishing a new career high in points (34) in the building in which he was drafted on March 3, 2015 at Minnesota (3-2 SO loss). The right-handed shooter established a new career high when he registered at least one point in a seventh consecutive contest on March 8, 2015 vs. Calgary (5-4 SO win), and recorded the 100th point of his NHL career on April 7, 2015 vs. Pittsburgh (4-3 OT win). He Played in the 200th game of his NHL career on April 11, 2015 at Philadelphia (3-1 win), and recorded four points (one goal, three assists) in six quarter-final games against Montreal.
In 2013-14, the forward began the season with Binghamton (AHL), recording seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games. He was recalled to Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2013, and remained with the Senators for the balance of the season, where he established new NHL career highs in goals (16), assists (17), points (33) and games (69). He Recorded the second game-deciding shootout goal of his career on Jan. 11, 2014 at Nashville (2-1 SO win), and ranked third among Senators with three shootout goals (six attempts). He played in the 100th game of his NHL career on Feb. 8, 2014 at Boston (7-2 loss), but ustained a neck strain on Dec. 19, 2013 vs. Florida (4-2 loss) causing him to miss the team’s following game. He missed the team’s final two regular-season games that season due to illness.
In 2012-13, Zibanejad began the season with Binghamton, registering 11 points (four goals, seven assists) and 10 penalty minutes over 23 games. He scored the first goal of his professional career on Nov. 16, 2012 against Adirondack. He was recalled by Ottawa on Jan. 26, 2013, where he made his NHL season debut the next day in a 3-2 home win over Washington. He remained with Ottawa for the duration of the season, where he scored scored the first goal of his NHL career on Jan. 30, 2013 against Montreal (5-1 win), and led Ottawa rookies (ranking fourth among Senators) in team scoring. He was eighth among all NHL rookies in points, and tied for the Senators team-lead with three power-play goals. He had three multi-point games, and played in each of Ottawa’s 10 playoff games, scoring one goal and adding three assists Zibanejad recorded first playoff point (an assist) as part of two-assist effort in Game 1 at Montreal on May 2, 2013 (4-2 win), and scored his first NHL playoff goal in Game 4 vs. Montreal on May 7, 2013 (3-2 OT win).
Among all-time Senators, the Huddinge, Sweden native currently sits in sole possession of 29th place in having played 281 regular season games for Ottawa, is tied for 21st place (Z. Smith) among all-time Senators with 64 goals, and Is tied for 31st place (Butler, Hoffman, Prospal, Stone) among all-time Senators with seven game-winning goals.
Zibanejad won gold in the 2012 World Junior Tournament, and silver in the World Junior Under-18 Tournament in 2011. He was born on April 18, 1993.
The centerman was drafted sixth overall by Ottawa in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft.
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