The issue is that Zibanejad WAS a very good player. Under Quinn, he turned into a one trick pony. He wasn't as good at defense or driving play anymore. It's why that first line w/ Laf, Zib, Kakko struggled to start the year (I admit that I haven't been able to watch the last few games, so I can't say whether they are still playing this way). None of them were driving the play forward so they couldn't get many high-danger chances or sustained offensive pressure.

Under Gallant, this may change for Zib. But if not, them I'm not sold on him as the #1 center, as he doesn't play the style I prefer for centers to play, especially on the first line. Eichel does. So I wouldn't have been bothered by trading Zib, Kravstov, Jones and a couple conditioned first round picks or a major upgrade on the first line. The way I see it, The Rangers are gonna be stuck in mediocrity if they don't make a move. Especially since Zib and Panarin will be on the wrong side of thirty by the time Kakko, Laf and these prospects are in their prime. This is the age when offense tends to decline, so Zib may decline quicker than Panarin, since Offense is his jam. Getting Eichel would mend this age gap a bit.

he scored 21 goals in 29 games to end last year, he scored at a 60 goal pace in 2019-20. this year hes improved a lot defensively, hes been great on the forecheck, hes a key part of both the powerplay and the penalty kill, and hes arguably one of the best centers in the league. but sure hes a one trick pony lmfao. also im not worried about his age, hes a good all around player, and elite players usually age quite well, and hes definitely an elite player.

wtf do you mean by "doesn't play the style i prefer for centers to play" how do you suggest he should play? im sorry if it sounds like im getting defensive but i just do not understand what you mean.

To be fair a lot of the Eichel to NYR buzz happened before the zibanejad extension and to many extents the Drury spending spree on mediocre depth

without goodrow on 3.6, and nemeth on 2.5, an eichel trade probably wouldve been possible even with the zibanejad extension, but having to trade zibanejad is just not worth it imo.

lemme ask you this, is eichel enough of an upgrade over zibanejad to be worth the cost of losing all the other assets we'd have to trade. im not sure exactly what the trade price was, but itd be something like zibanejad, 2 good prospects, and 1 1st, and i just dont see that as worth it. my only worry is that eichel is 3-4 years younger, so i see that he has more of his prime left than zib, but its not like zibanejad is an old man, he should still be an elite goal scorer for most of his contract, and we can always sort something out later down the line that doesnt involve paying an absurd price + our best goal scorer

Your argument for him was "he scores at an elite pace" and has started improving everywhere else. That's pretty much what I said. He is a one-trick pony who is really good at scoring goals. But he isn't great everywhere else under Quinn. Like I said, I didn't watch the last couple Rangers games, so if he is starting to improve other aspects of his game under Gallant, great. Either way, I'd still rather have Eichel. He is 4 years younger and has been better in nearly all aspects in BUFFALO, which the coaching hasn't complimented his style of play. With the Rangers, he could put up 100 points and 40 goals consistently, while also having a much better two-way game. If it matters for anything, Eichel is also much better at faceoffs.

I like Zib, but if I had to choose, I'd definitely take Eichel. Zib has become one of the most most overrated players in the game just because he can score goals.

I like Zib too....and if I had to choose- would also take Eichel...twenty something teams in the league would say the same thing: that Eichel is an upgrade over their 1C. But there is much more to it than that. The team that eventually lands Eichel- which Eichel are they getting....the guy who became an instant star in this league? or another professional athlete who is half the player he was prior to his surgery? This is the key question- what to commit in terms of assets to BUF, money to Eichel, and CAP space....IF he is not as good as the player he once was.

While I agree he is elite in many areas, I wish he would win faceoffs at a rate closer to Tavares instead of the usual 45%. If he was a 55% every year then we would play far more offence and far less defence. The metrics would probably equate to 15G for more and 15GA less having us at +30GD. So ya, while this would be amazing to have there’s only so many guys in the league that could actually do it while having his scoring ability and PK ability/defensive ability. Basically we would have AM34… so it’s unrealistic. I’m good with Zibby but *wish* he could get to that 55% FO win.

... no thats not what i said at all what.

have you ever seen him play hockey?

yeah he really needs to work on his faceoffs, thats his biggest weakness. we saw how that almost killed us against toronto. i mean anything 50+ would instantly make our team a lot better, especially on the powerplay, and even more especially on the pk