Mika Zibanejad (born 18 April 1993) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a centre and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Swedish national team. Zibanejad was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft by the Ottawa Senators. He made the Senators lineup out of training camp to start the 2011–12 season, but was returned to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden after scoring one point in nine NHL games with Ottawa. On 18 July 2016, after five seasons within the Senators organization, Zibanejad was traded to the Rangers.
Zibanejad has represented Sweden on the international stage, helping the junior team win the 2012 World Junior Championships and the senior team win the 2018 World Championship.
Zibanejad played association football as a child before deciding to pursue hockey. He began playing hockey at the age of six in Hammarby IF, where he played a total of seven seasons before the club went bankrupt in 2008.
Zibanejad then moved to AIK IF's youth organisation for the following season, where he began playing junior hockey. He was acquired by Djurgårdens IF for the 2009–10 season to play in the organisation's J18-team and J20-team. Zibanejad made his Elitserien debut on 7 December 2010, against Luleå HF, and scored his first Elitserien goal on 15 January 2011, against Tuomas Tarkki of Modo Hockey. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2010 KHL Junior Draft by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, 129th overall.
On 7 February 2011, Zibanejad signed a two-year contract extension with Djurgården. Zibanejad became a regular player in the senior roster after his debut, playing in 26 of the remaining 29 games. He scored five goals and nine points, which made him the third-most-successful junior player 18 years or younger in the organisation and playing with the senior team, behind Fredrik Bremberg and Jacob Josefson.
On 13 July 2011, Zibanejad signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators, the team that drafted him sixth overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft. After an impressive training camp, Zibanejad joined the Senators for their first game of the 2011–12 season. He registered his first career NHL point in his first game, an assist on a goal by Filip Kuba in a 5–3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. After one point in nine games played, Zibanejad was reassigned to his most recent club, Djurgårdens IF, on 26 October.
In June 2012, Zibanejad was rumoured to be a key part of a package Ottawa was offering to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Rick Nash. The offer was allegedly withdrawn when Columbus general manager Scott Howson informed the Senators Nash was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to accept a move to Ottawa.
In August 2012, the Senators announced Zibanejad would spend the 2012–13 season in North America, either in the NHL with the Senators or with the club's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. Due to the NHL lockout, Zibanejad began the season with Binghamton, where he registered 11 points in 23 games while battling injuries. He was called up to Ottawa on 28 January 2013, and played in his first NHL game of the season on 29 January against the Washington Capitals, a game in which he was selected as the first star. The following night, on 30 January in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Zibanejad scored his first career NHL goal. The goal came on the power play against goaltender Peter Budaj and with assists from Colin Greening and André Benoit. In the 2015–16 season, Zibanejad scored a career-high 21 goals with 30 assists.
On 18 July 2016, Zibanejad was traded by the Senators to the New York Rangers, along with a 2018 second-round pick, in exchange for Derick Brassard and a 2018 seventh-round pick. He had one year remaining on his contract before becoming eligible as a restricted free agent whereas Brassard had three left on his.
On 20 November 2016, during a game against the Florida Panthers, Zibanejad suffered a gruesome injury in overtime when he went hard with his left leg into the boards while trying to get in front of Reilly Smith. After the game, which the Rangers eventually lost 3–2 in a shootout, it was announced that he had broken his left fibula and would miss six to eight weeks. He returned to the Rangers lineup against the Dallas Stars on 17 January 2017 after missing 25 games; he scored two goals in the 7–6 Rangers loss. The Rangers made the 2017 playoffs at the end of the season. On 20 April 2017, Zibanejad scored the overtime winning goal in game 5 of the first round against the Montreal Canadiens. After the Rangers eliminated the Canadiens, Zibanejad met his former team, the Senators, in the conference semifinals. Ottawa would triumph in six games but Zibanejad led his team in scoring during the playoffs, registering nine points in 12 games.
After trading first-line centre Derek Stepan, the Rangers avoided arbitration with Zibanejad, signing him to a five-year, $26.75 million contract extension on 25 July 2017. With Stepan's departure, this made Zibanejad the Rangers' new first line centre for the 2017–18 season. The Rangers failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010, and announced they were rebuilding and proceeded to jettison veteran players while retaining young talent like Zibanejad. Zibanejad primarily lined up with Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich, but also saw significant time with Jesper Fast. By the end of the season, there were still questions as to whether he was a true first line centre. In the following season, Zibanejad was once again played as the Rangers' top centre, lining up between Kreider and Buchnevich. However, this was the first year of the Rangers' rebuild and they failed to reach the playoffs again. Despite that, Zibanejad broke out, reaching the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career and led the team in scoring.
In the off-season, the Rangers added Artemi Panarin and he was placed on Zibanejad's line to begin the season. Zibanejad scored a goal and three assists in the Rangers' 2019–20 season opener on 3 October 2019, and followed that game with his third career hat-trick against the Ottawa Senators on 5 October. He also posted an assist in the game, becoming the sixth player in NHL history with four-point games in each of the first two games of the season, and the first player to do so since John Cullen of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990. He was the second player in Rangers history to post eight points through the first two games of the season, the fourth in franchise history to score six or more points in that span, and the first in both cases since Rod Gilbert in 1976–77. Zibanejad's game on 5 October made him the first Rangers player with an even strength goal, a power play goal, and a short-handed goal in an away game since Petr Nedved in 2000, and the first Ranger to do so in any game since Derek Stepan in 2014. On 8 October, he was named NHL's First Star of the Week. After his hot start, Zibanejad missed time with an injury suffered after a high cross-check from Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron. During his absence, Panarin found chemistry with Ryan Strome. However, after Zibanejad's return Panarin returned to his wing for a short period before being split up.
On 5 March 2020, Zibanejad became the third player in Rangers history to score five goals in a game in a 6–5 win over the Capitals, joining Don Murdoch, who set the mark on 12 October 1976 against the Minnesota North Stars, and Mark Pavelich on 23 February 1983 versus the Hartford Whalers. Among Zibanejad's tallies was the overtime winner, making him only the second player in NHL history to complete the quintet of goals in the extra period. (The other was Sergei Fedorov, who did the same on 26 December 1996, also against Washington.) Zibanejad had a good season and the Rangers made the playoffs. They faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of an abbreviated playoff series due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first game, Zibanejad had a goal and two points in a 3–2 loss. The Rangers only scored twice more in the series as they were swept by the Hurricanes.