Mika Zibanejad’s usage with the New York Rangers has decreased, yet he still continues to play in some critical situations.
Peter Laviolette made a big decision to demote Zibanejad from the first unit of the power play in favor of Alexis Lafrenière.
When asked about this specific change, Laviolette did not single Zibanejad out, but he went on to criticize the Rangers’ power play as a whole.
“It’s not working. We’re working on things, we’re trying things,” Laviolette said via Mollie Walker of The New York Post. “If eventually they’re not working, you have to move things around a little bit. I don’t know if it’s permanent or not, but right now it’s where it’s at.”
In New York’s 5-3 loss to the Panthers on Monday night, Zibanejad’s time on ice was cutas he played a total of 16:25 minutes.
This season, the 31-year-old forward averages 18:13 minutes. His ice time will likely continue to take a dip if he is permanently stripped of his usual power play duties.
However, Laviolette decided to play Zibanejad at the most critical point of the night with the Rangers on a six-on-four advantage trying to tie the game.
Laviolette defended his choice to stick with Zibanejad late in the contest.
“There’s a group that we work on things and we go over things, there’s a group that’s been together,” Laviolette said.
A lot of the struggles we’ve seen from the Rangers recently have been placed on Zibanejad’s shoulders since his overall play has noticeably declined.
All eyes are on Zibanejad as his role with the team is in jeopardy unless he is able to get back on track.
