The New York Rangers and top center Mika Zibanejad have agreed to an eight-year contract worth $68 million.
Zibanejad
will count $8.5 million against the salary cap beginning next season
and through 2029-30. The 28-year-old Swede was almost a point-a-game
player last season with 24 goals and 26 assists in 50 games.
“Since
joining the team in 2016, Mika has emerged as one of the premier
players in the NHL,” first-year general manager Chris Drury said Sunday
in a statement. “In addition to being a great player on the ice, Mika is
an exemplary person off of the ice. We are fortunate to have him as
part of our Rangers organization and are excited that he will continue
his career in New York.”
Zibanejad
has 283 points in 323 regular-season games since the Rangers acquired
him from Ottawa in 2016. He has 434 points in 604 regular-season games
with the Rangers and Senators and 19 more in the playoffs.
New
York now has Zibanejad and forwards Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and
Barclay Goodrow signed for at least the next five seasons. Drury’s next
order of business could be a new contract for Norris Trophy-winning
defenseman Adam Fox, who is in the final season of his entry-level deal.
The Rangers open the season Wednesday at the Washington Capitals.
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