Mika Zibanejad Admits What He Went Through This Season Was Toughest Mental Challenge Of Career

New York Rangers fans are accustomed to seeing Mika Zibanejad controlling the pace of play and using his hockey IQ to dominate while he’s on the ice. 

Since arriving in New York in 2016, Zibanejad has taken The Big Apple by storm as year after year we’ve seen consistent play from the Swedish forward. 

However, for a large part of the 2024-25 campaign that wasn’t the case. 

Through the first half of the season, it was clear that Zibanejad simply didn’t look like himself out there. 

The 32-year-old was slower and not nearly as productive from an offensive standpoint, which led to a lot of questions and noise around his name. 

Was age finally catching up to Zibanejad? What exactly was behind this rapid decline? 

Zibanejad got back on track in some form through the second half of the season, especially after the arrival of J.T. Miller. 

He finished the season with a respectable 20 goals, 42 assists, and 62 points in 82 games while averaging 18:46 minutes.

Still though, Zibaneajd was not happy with his level of play this season and admitted that he wasn’t in the right mental space through the beginning stages of the year. 

“I think the first couple of months up until December, I don’t think it is very good,” Zibanejad said. “I’m not happy with the season as a whole. I feel like mentally what I went through the first few months was probably the toughest I’ve ever been through in my career in a different way…

“I know this wasn’t a season that I wanted and that’s on me. I’ve got some months now to take advantage of and get ready for next season.”

The questions to Zibanejad and about Zibanejad kept coming early on in the year as his struggles became glaringly apparent and that takes a toll on someone. 

Zibanejad didn’t have very much confidence at points this season, but it was more than just his confidence that was bothering him. 

“There was more to it than that,” Zibanejad said about whether his poor mental state stemmed from confidence. “Obviously, the confidence takes a turn. I think if you follow me and see how I play, you can tell what makes me good and when I play free, but I feel like I didn’t do that the first three months.”

Where does this season leave Zibanejad now in terms of his future with the Rangers? 

Regardless if Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury has a desire to move on from Zibanejad or not, he holds a full no-move clause in his contract and he’s made that fact abundantly clear when asked about his future. 

“I haven’t heard anything,” Zibanejad said via Peter Baugh of The Athletic. “I don’t read anything, I don’t listen to anything. It’s noise.

“There’s a reason why there are clauses like that. It’s something that was negotiated and earned. My focus has always been here. My focus has never been on anything else.”

In all likelihood, Zibanejad will be back with the Blueshirts next season with the hope of a revival for both himself and the team.