2011 NHL DRAFT: Mika Zibanejad one-game scouting report

Scouting report from the World Under-18 Championship final game against the US.

Mika Zibanejad is a 6'1", 195 lbs center. Ranked second among European skaters by Central Scouting, the Swedish forward split the season between the top junior league in Sweden and the Swedish Elite League. He's an impressive competitor, and tireless worker. He has huge puck desire, and is strong in the faceoff circle. His stick isn't his best asset, and has yet to reach the same level as his puck-hunger, while his offensive skills still need development.

Zibanejad had the fourth-best grade (70) among his draft-eligible teammates. His mark was carried by his strong play in the neutral-zone. He won 2 neutral-zone puck-battles, successfully carried the puck into the offensive-zone on 5 separate occasions, while dumping the puck in deep 3 times.


Overall Risk/Reward

Zibanejad (#21) had the fourth-best overall risk/reward rating among his draft-eligible teammates, and the second-best rating among draft-eligible forwards.

	21
POS	47	POS
NEG	19	NEG
GAMES	1	GAMES
MIN/G	15	MIN/G
	21
MINUTES	15	MINUTES
POS/MIN	3.13	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	1.27	NEG/MIN
	21
EVENTS/ MIN	4.40	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	1.87	RISK/REWARD
	21

Offensive-zone Risk/Reward

Out of ten draft-eligible teammates in the game, Zibanejad had the sixth-best offensive-zone risk/reward rating. He won 7 of 11 offensive-zone puck-battles, but was unsuccessful each of the three times he tried to beat opposing players 1on1.

	21
OZ POS	13	OZ POS
OZ NEG	11	OZ NEG
GAMES	1	GAMES
MIN/G	15	MIN/G
	21
MINUTES	15	MINUTES
POS/MIN	0.87	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.73	NEG/MIN
	21
EVENTS/ MIN	1.60	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.13	RISK/REWARD
	21

Defensive-zone Risk/Reward

Zibanejad had the fourth-best defensive-zone risk/reward rating among his draft-eligible teammates. He won 6 of 9 defensive-zone puck-battles, was successful with 7 if 10 defensive-zone pass-attempts, and managed 4 separate defensive-zone takeaways.

	21		TM TOT
DZ POS	19	DZ POS	331
DZ NEG	6	DZ NEG	86
GAMES	1	GAMES	44
MIN/G	15	MIN/G	16
	21		TM TOT
MINUTES	15	MINUTES	699
POS/MIN	1.27	POS/MIN	0.47
NEG/MIN	0.40	NEG/MIN	0.12
	21		TM TOT
EVENTS/ MIN	1.67	EVENTS/ MIN	0.60
RISK/REWARD	0.87	RISK/REWARD	0.35
	21		TM TOT

 
Neutral-zone Risk/Reward

Zibanejad had the second-best risk/reward rating in the game. As mentioned earlier, his neutral-zone play carried his grade. He made excellent puck-decisions, while using his speed to engage in, and win neutral-zone puck-battles.

	21
NZ POS	13	NZ POS
NZ NEG	3	NZ NEG
GAMES	1	GAMES
MIN/G	15	MIN/G
	21
MINUTES	15	MINUTES
POS/MIN	0.87	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.20	NEG/MIN
	21
EV/ MIN	1.07	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.67	RISK/REWARD
	21

Raw data from the World Under-18 championship final against the USA.

	21
OZPBW	7	OZPBW
OZPBL	4	OZPBL
OZPASS+	4	OZPASS+
OZPASS-	3	OZPASS-
OZDEAK+		OZDEAK+
OZDEAK-	3	OZDEAK-
SKI +	5	SKI +
SKI-	1	SKI-
DI+	3	DI+
DI-	1	DI-
OZTA		OZTA
	21
DZPBW	6	DZPBW
DZPBL	3	DZPBL
DZPASS+	7	DZPASS+
DZPASS-	3	DZPASS-
DZDEAK+		DZDEAK+
DZDEAK-		DZDEAK-
PK DUMP+	1	PK DUMP+
PK DUMP-		PK DUMP-
DZTA	4	DZTA
DZ-BL-SHOT	1	DZ-BL-SHOT
DZ-BL-PASS		DZ-BL-PASS
	21
NZPBW	2	NZPBW
NZPBL	1	NZPBL
NZPASS+	3	NZPASS+
NZPASS-		NZPASS-
NZDEAK+		NZDEAK+
NZDEAK-		NZDEAK-
NZTA		NZTA
	21
DZFOW	2	DZFOW
DZFOL		DZFOL
DZPKFOW	1	DZPKFOW
DZPKFOL	2	DZPKFOL
OZPPFOW		OZPPFOW
OZPPFOL		OZPPFOL
OZFOW	1	OZFOW
OZFOL		OZFOL
NZFOW		NZFOW
NZFOL	1	NZFOL
	21
PS THRU	2	PS THRU
OZ PS BL	1	OZ PS BL
POINTS X2		POINTS X2
+/-	-1	+/-
SHOTS	2	SHOTS
	21
WINS	51	WINS
BATTLES	73	BATTLES
GRADE	70	GRADE
PLAYER	21