The New York Rangers announced Sunday morning that they’ve extended center Mika Zibanejad. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports an eight-year deal with a cap hit in the $8.5MM range. Per CapFriendly, the contract breakdown is as follows:
2022-23: $1MM salary + $7MM signing bonus
2023-24: $1MM salary + $9MM signing bonus
2024-25: $1MM salary + $9.5MM signing bonus
2025-26: $1MM salary + $9MM signing bonus
2026-27: $1MM salary + $7.5MM signing bonus
2027-28: $1MM salary + $6.75MM signing bonus
2028-29: $1MM salary + $5.75MM signing bonus
2029-30: $1MM salary + $5.5MM signing bonus
CapFriendly also adds that the deal contains a full no-move clause through the first seven years of the deal plus most of the eighth year. In 2030, that clause will drop to a 21-team no-trade clause seven days before the trade deadline.
Zibanejad’s extension will begin in the 2022-23 season, taking him through 2029-30 — his age 37 season. He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this campaign.
With Zibanejad’s $8.5MM reported cap hit, it’s an increase of a little over $3MM on his previous $5.35MM cap hit. The center is coming off a five-year, $26.75MM deal he signed with the Rangers prior to the 2017-18 season.
The contract has immediate salary cap ramifications for the Rangers, who’ll have a busy and challenging offseason ahead of them at the conclusion of this season. The team is projected to have $20.2MM in space next year with the cap increasing to $82.5MM. That space is all they have to re-sign Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Sammy Blais, and Alexandar Georgiev, as well as filling out the rest of their roster. They’re handicapped by a $3.4MM cap penalty from the combined buyouts of Kevin Shattenkirk, Dan Girardi, and Anthony DeAngelo.
Throughout his 604-game NHL career, Zibanejad’s scored 200 goals, 234 assists, and 434 points. He’s averaged over 20 minutes a game for the Rangers for three consecutive seasons, cementing his role as a bonafide top-line center. He scored 24 goals and 50 points during last season’s shortened 56-game campaign.
Drafted sixth overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2011, he’s done his best work away from the team that drafted him after Ottawa shipped him away to the Rangers in 2016 in exchange for Derick Brassard. He’s scored 283 points in 323 games as a Ranger.
Theoretically, this deal also had a direct impact on another New York squad. The Rangers have long been linked as a possible destination for former Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel via trade. Yet an eight-year commitment of this magnitude to a player that’s served as their first-line center for years now would suggest that the Rangers have placed their bets in-house on a center that can take them to a Stanley Cup.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Images.
All salary cap figures courtesy of CapFriendly.
Smart. Mika is better than Eichel and, now, cheaper, too.
Lol
id easily take healthy Mika over neck pain Eichel
Mika cares. Eichel doesn’t. Easy call.
Eichel when healthy is much better than Mika. In fact Eichel when healthy is top 3 center overall in the game. McDavid, McKinnon, maybe Matthews but no other center is as talented as him. If and when he is healthy the Ducks will be very happy with him leading the way. Mika in 3-4 years will be on the decline and Ranger fans will bitch about the contract especially if they do not win a cup! I’ll bet money on that!
I can think of at least 9 Centers I can think of I want before Eichel at this time. McDavid, Draisaitl, MacKinnon, Matthews, Bergeron, Kopitar, Scheifele, Barkov, Crosby. And Maybe Aho, Lindholm, Backstrom, O’Reilly, Tavares, Point, and Barzal as well. He is not a top tier C nor a elite forward at this point. He is in the upper echelon potential but not solidified there right now.
I’d take all those guys over Eichel. I think OP is a troll.
Great move love Mika!
LMAO
$8.5mil per till he is 37yo
When will he get bought out?
After he turns 35yo? 36yo?
Eichel is $10mil per till he turns about 29yo (the age Mika is currently)
A Eichel trade could have removed another future salary from the books & then a trade for Mika for future assets could have materialized. Oh wait. That is called thinking ahead.
LMAO. Eichel is getting paid $10M per to sit out and may never be the same. Zibs drops points for less. Rangers made the smart move.
Trade how exactly? Zib had a full NMC clause in place so was not movable unless he requested a trade.
Yeah I agree with you. This MZ contract was 2-3 years too long and they should have stopped at 8 million especially with a player who has had history of concussions.
Baloney.
His agent has found a few teams willing to have Eichel have the disk replacement surgery & have reenganged the Sabres in trade talks. Injuries happen all the time & Eichel was skating & passing all during the offseason. He also scored 19 points in 19 games (2 goals/17 assists) while he was mostly dealing with that injury. Team doctors prefer the fusion surgery & neither camp has stated a concern about Eichel’s ability to come back healthy.
Fljay, you have shown nothing but resentment towards anyone who hasn’t 100% agreed with your perspective of the situation in Buffalo between them and JE since you have arrived at this site. Are you Kevin Adams?
Like seriously, you aren’t even willing to listen to another teams reasoning why they don’t believe he owns as much value as you believe he does.
His agent has not found any other teams openly willing to have him get the surgery he wants, they have found teams willing to discuss the options from what the medicals show, not openly willing to let him get it. They also reportedly are willing to discuss a trade with CONDITIONS, not just throw Buffalo what they are reportedly asking for.
But nice try trying to spin your own web
If he has concussion issues he goes on LTIR or retires and that cap space opens up.
Nobody wants to see that obviously but it’s not a terrible outcome since the Rangers have the ability to eat that money and go out to sign another center.
It’s a similar case with Eichel, except in that scenario you are being asked to give up multiple assets, draft picks, etc.
Yes, the team that has compiled the top farm system in the NHL and has an NHL roster swarming with young talent has not “thought ahead”.
Thought it would be 8/$8M per, but what’s another $4M over 8 years. Good deal for both.
As for next year, wouldn’t be surprised to see Georgiev and/or Kreider moved at the deadline. Toss Strome and one of the kids at D and they might get a solid 2nd line center.
Kreider has no trade. So does Trouba. These are contracts we can’t move that’s why this contract may hurt us signing or resigning a younger better player in 3 years.
Only for the first 4 years of the contract. Dropping his playing time may persuade him to waive the clause.
Yeah and at that point with no value who wants them?
I assume this will solidly him as the captain of the Rangers
A full no trade? Another Ranger bone head move. Stop with the no trades!