An eight-year contract worth the equivalent of SEK 600 million – which will only take effect after the NHL season has now begun – may sound extreme. But it is a perfectly reasonable solution for a player of Mika Zibanejad’s caliber in terms of the market that prevails in the world’s best hockey league.
The remarkable thing was that a new agreement was reached so far before the previous agreement had expired.
– Of course you understand that the New York Rangers like Mika, he has done very well since he got there. Then it is the case that the market price for this type of player is on quite long and expensive contracts and if you want to be part of the challenge and have a competitive team, you have to find ways to push long contracts into the plan, says Rickard Wallin.
He himself has experience of games in the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs, but since six seasons back, it’s Viaplay’s late NHL broadcasts that people are perhaps most associated with.
The TV expert says that the New York Rangers for the first time in a long time – the premiere bang away against Washington (1-5) notwithstanding – breathes morning air and has something going on with players like Artemij Panarin and Adam Fox in team building. The long-term contract with 28-year-old Mika Zibanejad suggests, however, that it is the Swedish forwards star that they lean towards when the team will take the next step and become a club with the potential to go far in a Stanley Cup play-off.
– Obviously they feel that Mika is their first center that can get the job done. With this extension, it feels very likely that he will get the captain’s armband as well. It feels like he is the leader of the team that has grown to a large profile, not only in Swedish hockey but in the entire NHL, says Rickard Wallin.
– Rickard Wallin is a hockey expert on Viaplay’s NHL broadcasts.
Photo: Petter Arvidson / Bildbyrån
If it is right or wrong to commit to such a long time, the future will tell. However, one does not have to go far back in time to be reminded that the most lucrative and long-term agreements do not always turn out as the organizations intended.
In 2018, for example, Erik Karlsson signed for eight new years in the San Jose Sharks and this season is the league’s highest paid player with barely SEK 127 million in salary. However, the 31-year-old Swede has not been able to maintain the same high level as when he was named the league’s best defender in Ottawa twice and thus finds it difficult to live up to his high salary.
– If he plays well now, it’s still not good enough – because everyone compares Erik with when he was at his best. If he played so well, it would be worth it, but he has a little harder to live up to it. That was what it cost to keep him then and they decided to do it. It feels a little more strange only when it comes to a team that is not even close to challenging with their team building and going far in a playoff, says Wallin.
Eight new years also wrote back colleague Oliver Ekman-Larsson on for in Arizona three years ago. But the long-term plan was broken and this summer the 30-year-old was transferred to Vancouver.
– It is rare that there will be a successful end, but at the same time: If you do not pay the price, you are not competing, says Rickard Wallin who thinks Mika Zibanejad will be more long-term in Rangers.
– Henrik Lundqvist was bought out by Rangers in the end, which was thought to be completely unthinkable when he signed his contract. There are solutions to everything, but I do not think that will happen in this case.
– This is a very strong signal from Rangers that they believe in Mika and are betting on taking the last steps to start winning some playoff rounds and in the long run challenge for the Stanley Cup.
– Mika Zibanejad with teammate Ryan Strome (left) during the preseason.
Foto: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
The salary cap in the NHL has The last few seasons have been $ 81.5 million per club and as it is regulated how much of the salary budget can be taken up by an individual player, the effect has been that the agreements have become longer, Wallin says.
With a so-called “cap hit” of 8.5 million dollars per season (equivalent to almost 74 million kronor), Mika Zibanejad’s new contract will give him an average salary that places him roughly among the 30 highest paid players in the league.
– It is not an overprice in that way. We must remember that there are several who earn over eleven million dollars per season. I think this is a smart investment for both Mika and the New York Rangers, says Rickard Wallin.
Mika Zibanejad is 37 years old when his contract expires. Do you think he’s doing it?
– As it looks today, there is nothing to indicate that he would not do it. They believe in him and he wants to be there, and even though he had a tough start last year, he showed that he is a top player in the league. What he has left to prove is to perform in a playoff, just like the whole team. But yes, it feels like he has all the potential to end his career at Rangers.