The current New York Rangers nosedive has only lasted a calendar month or so, which seems a bit impossible to believe. It feels like they've been in this spiral for much longer.
But it's still been long enough that a conversation with Mika Zibanejad from two weeks ago resonates just as much as it did when we first sat down with him. Despite scuffling through one of the worst stretches of his career, with one point in his last six games and vying for the dreaded NHL "green jacket" at minus-19 -- the player with the worst plus/minus rating is the (very unofficial) green jacket winner, akin to golf's Masters winner who finishes the farthest under par.
In the earlier stages of both the Rangers' and Zibanejad's struggles -- his ice time is also down from 19:45 a game last season to 18:19 now -- we asked Zibanejad how he blocks out the noise when things aren't going well.
As he has always been, Zibanejad's answer was thoughtful and honest.
"I don't think just because you think about hockey 24/7 that you're more passionate, more driven because you think about hockey all the time," he said. "I think there's breaking points in terms of, you leave the rink, you have a life outside, other responsibilities. I think hockey is a big part but it's not everything. Whatever you do as a young guy to take your mind off it at times, when things aren't good to be able to mentally reset. For me, it's to be able to talk to my friends, be a human being as well as a hockey player.
"What I do is not necessarily who I am."
That sort of honesty can get a player in trouble. Zibanejad is very much a "never too high, never too low" type of professional, which is great when things are going well because it looks as though players like him aren't satisfied.
When it's this sort of malaise, though, and you're counted on to help pull the team out of it, that cool exterior and humane perspective can sound like you don't care enough.
Zibanejad is in a different position than his good friend Chris Kreider, who has a 15-team no-trade clause and two years left on his contract at a reasonable $6.5 million cap hit. Zibanejad has five years left at $8.5 million and a full no-move clause, which means he can't be traded, sent to the minors or waived without his consent.
So Zibanejad, whose contract is built around bonuses so it is also essentially buyout-proof, is not likely going anywhere. Nor is his candor or his perspective.
That leads off this week's observations column, which covers a loss in Nashville, a win in Dallas and a loss against Carolina. We have 12 this week: the same number of Rangers' losses since Nov. 21.
1. Matt Rempe received an eight-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety for elbowing Miro Heiskanen. In a video explanation, the department said Rempe committed both elbowing and boarding infractions. The justification also mentions he is a repeat offender because of his four-game suspension for elbowing Jonas Siegenthaler last season.
"Rempe explodes upwards into a hard check to the back of a defenseless Heiskanen while at the same time extending his elbow and forearm up and into the back of Heiskanen's neck, driving Heiskanen dangerously into the boards and glass," the department said. "During the entire leadup to this hit, Rempe sees nothing but Heiskanen's back. Rempe is in complete control of how this play develops, and it is Rempe's responsibility in this situation to avoid the contact, change the angle such that he does not hit a defenseless player directly from behind or at very least to minimize the force of an imminent collision."
Rempe will forfeit $80,000 in salary because of the suspension.
2. Rempe has played 22 NHL regular season games. After this suspension, he will have served 12 games' worth of suspensions. In 126:54 of career ice time, he has 95 penalty minutes, four ejections and two points.
3. Here are the numbers for the Rangers' highest-paid skaters during their 4-12-0 skid:
* Artemi Panarin: 14 games, 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists), minus-8
* Adam Fox: 16 games, 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists), minus-1
* Mika Zibanejad: 16 games, 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists), minus-14
* Chris Kreider: 12 games, 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist), minus-4
* Vincent Trocheck: 16 games, 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists), minus-4
4. Brett Berard is a 5-foot-9 rookie, but he's fearless. After a stoppage in the first period against Dallas, he got tangled with 6-foot-5 Lian Bichsel. The Stars defenseman gave him a hard shove in the chest, but Berard didn't back down. He charged right at his opponent until Jason Robertson eventually pulled them apart.
5. Young Dallas standout Wyatt Johnston played junior with Will Cuylle with Windsor in the Ontario Hockey League, and Johnston also knew the Rangers forward a bit from growing up near Toronto.
"He can really do everything," said Johnston, who mentioned his scoring, penalty-killing abilities and big body.
The two caught up in the hallway after Dallas' morning skate, and Johnston has been paying attention to his friend's early-season success.
"It doesn't surprise me," Johnston said. "As a young guy it sometimes takes some time to build that trust in the coaches. It's awesome to see what he's been able to do. The majority of his goals have been at five-on-five."
None of Cuylle's goals have been on the power play. He has 10 at even strength and one short-handed.
6. Away from the rink in Windsor, Johnston and Cuylle often played Scrabble together. Apparently Cuylle is pretty good.
"We would get fired up about it," Johnston said.
7. Former Rangers defenseman Nils Lundkvist, now with the Stars, said hello to Zibanejad when the teams were both at the rink for morning skate. Lundkvist was a first-round pick in 2018 and said Zibanejad looked out for him while he was breaking into the NHL. He also mentioned Patrik Nemeth, who was on the team in 2021-22, as a good mentor.
"I had two really good Swedes to follow around," he said.
8. Dallas defenseman Brendan Smith, who played 235 games with the Rangers, congratulated Sam Rosen on his upcoming retirement while walking to the dressing room after morning skate. He gave the longtime broadcaster a hug.
Smith's brother Reilly is on the Rangers, and they met up during the Rangers' two off days leading into the game.
"My parents are here and (it was) nice to be able to see Brendan's family," Reilly said. "Don't get too many opportunities to do that so it's a good moment for our family."
9. Panarin did not like watching two games from the press box while out with an upper-body injury.
"Pretty much as soon as it happened he was in the (hotel) lobby with a lot of the guys," Jonny Brodzinski said. "We talked for a good 20 minutes, and then he had a flight in a couple hours. It's really quick and sudden."
11. The 2019 draft class is fascinating. With Kakko in Seattle, five of the top 10 picks are no longer with the teams that drafted them, including three of the top four:
Obviously, the further back you go, the more turnover you'll see. Five of the top 10 from 2017 have changed clubs, and eight of 10 from 2016 have.
12. Here was Seattle general manager Ron Francis' analysis of Kakko:
"There's a reason why the Rangers took him at No. 2," he said. "For whatever reason it just hasn't panned out for him. We're hoping (with) a change of scenery and working with us that hopefully we can get a little bit more out of him, get him back to playing the game he has fun doing and loves playing."