Former NHLer Sean Avery calls out New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad for laziness on and off the ice

Sean Avery is one of the most outspoken NHL personalities since his playing days ended, and now he's called out Rangers star Mika Zibanejad.

The New York Rangers are off to a solid 2-0-1 start this season through three games, and with Artemi Panarin posting a ridiculous seven points in that time, confidence is high for this team once again in 2024/25. One player that has played solid in that time is star forward Mika Zibanejad on the back of 81, 91 and 72 points in the last three seasons, but somehow that hasn't stopped him from receiving immense criticism thus far.

Now, former Ranger Sean Avery has piled on some of that criticism in a recent social media post, where Avery films a Zibanejad shift while calling him out, stating that he was "DJing in Ibiza all summer" which has led to the lazy play to start the early season.

While most people will have a major problem with what Avery has had to say about Zibanejad, it's hard to argue with him given the video supporting his argument showed very lackadaisical play from the Rangers star. The backside one-timer is one of the biggest strength's of No. 93's game, so it's easy to see why that's what he was setting up, but once he was engaged in a puck battle, he simply gave up on the play, which isn't something any NHL team in 2024/25 wants to see out of a player in the top-six.

Away from the ice, it's well known that Zibanejad has a passion for DJing, with the Swedish star rocking Lollapalooza in recent years, but if Avery is correct with his criticisms, it may be dominating a little too much of his life. Admittedly, there is 79 games left in the season for New York, and with Stanley Cup ambitions, there's no doubt they'll grow into the season, so the hope is that Zibanejad can get back to his best and help them back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2014.

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