{"id":556233,"date":"2026-04-19T19:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556233\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:29:18","slug":"mika-zibanejad-commits-to-ny-rangers-despite-terrible-season-under-mike-sullivan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556233\/","title":{"rendered":"Mika Zibanejad commits to NY Rangers despite terrible season under Mike Sullivan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mika Zibanejad was the best skater on the New York Rangers<\/a> by a landslide in the 2025-26 NHL season. With the Blueshirts headed for a retool, the veteran center is staying committed to the process under head coach Mike Sullivan. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be here. I want to be here to turn this around,\u201d Mika Zibanejad said during the Rangers\u2019 clean-out day after the 2025-26 NHL<\/a> season, via The Athletic. \u201cI think I proved what I can do and what I\u2019m still capable of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zibanejad\u2019s statement is just what Sullivan<\/a> and the Rangers needed after a crushing campaign. Nothing went the Blueshirts\u2019 way in the 2025-26 NHL campaign, but their biggest star is showing no signs of giving up. Sullivan, who was torn about his first year in New York<\/a>, recorded the worst single-season record of his career, as the Blueshirts finished 34\u201339\u20139 in 2025\u201326. <\/p>\n

For the Rangers, their 77-point finish was their lowest total in an 82-game season since 2017\u201318, when they finished with the exact same record. This time, however, the Blueshirts finished dead last in the Eastern Conference\u2014for the first time in franchise history. Though the Rangers were always confident they can turn things around, hearing Zibanejad\u2019s firm commitment definitely helps.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Sullivan had a rough debut season with NY Rangers.<\/p>\n

Zibanejad could\u2019ve requested a trade<\/p>\n

With the Rangers headed for some more rough years and Zibanejad turning 33 on April 18, it was plausible he didn\u2019t see a future in the Big Apple anymore. However, Zibanejad isn\u2019t jumping ship. If there\u2019s a solution to the crisis in Manhattan, Zibanejad wants to help the Rangers figure it out. <\/p>\n

Needless to say, 30-plus-goal seasons like the one he had last campaign will definitely come in handy for a team whose goal production came in fits and starts. Zibanejad believes there\u2019s more where his latest 78-point season came from\u2014and Sullivan\u2019s Rangers can only hope that\u2019s true. <\/p>\n

Zibanejad\u2019s contract<\/p>\n

Zibanejad is under contract through the 2029\u201330 season (eight-year, $68 million deal). Signed to a full no-movement clause (NMC), he has full control of his future. If he wants out, he can request a trade and virtually decide where he\u2019d like to play next. However, that isn\u2019t the case. Zibanejad wants to be a Blueshirt; his NMC only guarantees he can\u2019t be caught by surprise by GM Chris Drury and a front office that often takes the \u201cteam over players\u201d mantra to a dangerous level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mika Zibanejad was the best skater on the New York Rangers by a landslide in the 2025-26 NHL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,1955,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-556233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mike-sullivan","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-rangers","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkrangers","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-rangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116433033661355147","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}