MILAN — It’s been hard to be a Ranger the past two years.
That’s an undisputed fact to anyone who has kept up with remarkable crash by the Blueshirts from the top of a Presidents’ Trophy perch over the past two seasons. For a significant portion of this downfall, Mika Zibanejad has not only faced it head-on as the longest-tenured member of the team’s leadership core, but the Swedish center also battled through the lowest point — both mentally and physically — of his 15-year NHL career.
Even in the thick of his most challenging stretch last season, Zibanejad was the very picture of happiness while wearing the Tre Kronor for Team Sweden at the NHL’s 4 Nations tournament.
The Rangers waved the white flag on the 2025-26 campaign just under a month ago.
While Zibanejad may be enjoying a bounce-back NHL season despite that, expect the 32-year-old to continue to shine his brightest while donning the yellow and blue.
“I think just his overall season has been really good for Mika, and for us, he’s so valuable,” Sweden head coach Sam Hallam said after practice Tuesday. “We can play him up the middle. We can play him on the wing. We can play him power play, PK. He’s just that utility tool with a really smart hockey mind. He’s going to be an important player for us. You’re going to see that [Wednesday against Italy].”
Sweden is the biggest threat to spoil the coveted — but in no way guaranteed — Canada-USA gold medal matchup. Zibanejad is going to play a multi-faceted role that will put him in a position to be a real difference maker for his country.
If Zibanejad can remain at the level he’s operated at with the Rangers this season, the Swedes will be a tough team to beat.
If the joy that so clearly runs through Zibanejad in this environment can raise his game, the Swedish men’s national team could reach Olympic glory for just the third time in history.
Paired on the third line next to Elias Pettersson and Rickard Rakell, Zibanejad also skated on Sweden’s power-play unit with Rakell, Erik Karlsson, Jesper Bratt and Gabriel Landeskog during practice Tuesday at Santagiulia Arena.
“He’s such a smart player,” Rakell said. “He can do it all. He’s responsible defensively, great at faceoffs, got a great shot and really detailed with a lot of faceoff plays and ideas to try to create something every shift. I’m really excited to play with him. I’ve been playing with him for quite a few tournaments before, so we should know each other pretty good out there. I think we can use that to our advantage.”
Zibanejad has made an impact on Sweden at nearly every international level.
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When he was 18 at the 2012 World Junior Championship, Zibanejad scored the golden goal in overtime to defeat the Russians and secure Sweden’s first gold at the tournament since 1981. Apparently, he told his teammate, Jeremy Boyce-Rotevall, he was going to do so.
“He came in on the breakaway and I knew he was going to score,” Boyce-Rotevall said at the time, per Sportsnet. “He told me this morning he was going to finish this game off.”
With six goals and five assists at the 2018 IIHF World Championship, Zibanejad finished among the top 10 point leaders and tied for the fourth-most tallies. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and a couple of long Rangers playoff runs, that 2018 tournament was the last time Zibanejad represented Sweden before 4 Nations.
The NHL’s first taste of international play in more than a decade couldn’t have come at a better time for Zibanejad, who was among the first six players named to Sweden’s roster. He looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders the moment he arrived in Montreal for the start of the tournament.
To put it into perspective, Zibanejad collected 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) through the first 54 games for the Rangers before 4 Nations. Afterward? He scored nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points in his final 27 games of the season.
The difference in Zibanejad was apparent in more ways than one after he finished in third place with his fellow NHL Swedes.
Taking advantage of an early summer for the Rangers after missing the playoffs last season, Zibanejad was named an alternate captain for Sweden at the 2025 World Championship in his hometown of Stockholm. His five goals and three assists over the tournament helped lift Sweden to bronze.
“A lot,” Victor Hedman said of what Zibanejad brings to Sweden’s lineup. “Not just the power play. His shot, but his leadership, too. His dedication to his two-way game. And that’s a tremendous guy, too, as well, like all other Swedes. He’s going to mean a lot. He’s a game changer. He’s going to be a big, important piece for us.”
But Zibanejad was not included in the initial six players announced to Sweden’s preliminary Olympic roster in June.
At this point in Zibanejad’s career, opportunities to pull on his country’s jersey after Milan will be limited. It could very well be the last time.
Zibanejad is in a much different frame of mind than the last time he stepped on the international stage.
That could be the difference for Team Sweden.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
