What's next for Zibanejad and the Rangers?

By no means was it the biggest trade of the offseason, but the mid-July deal that sent Mika Zibanejad to the New York Rangers in exchange for Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick is approaching the next stage of development.

Zibanejad is a pending unrestricted free agent, but his contract year had a wrench thrown in it after suffering a broken fibula in November, limiting him to just 29 games this season.

With that in mind, Zibanejad's upcoming negotiations become clouded by a bit of uncertainty. So how do the Rangers approach the situation?

Let's take a look:

His case

In Zibanejad, the Rangers acquired a developing 23-year-old center coming off a career-best, 51-point season with the Senators. He was hand-plucked to serve as a cheaper, younger, perhaps even better alternative to Brassard, and early returns indicate New York general manager Jeff Gorton orchestrated a good deal.

Ottawa selected Zibanejad sixth overall in 2011, and after a few stints in the AHL, he's started to become the player many anticipated he would be. Over his career (310 games) Zibanejad's career points per game rate is 0.55, but since becoming a permanent NHLer in 2014-15, his average sits at 0.62 with 48 goals and 70 assists in 190 contests.

In limited action this season, Zibanejad has 21 points to Brassard's 29, in 23 fewer games.

What's more, Zibanejad has assumed the centering role on New York's top line, flanked by Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello, two of the club's top three scorers.

The Rangers' situation

As usual, New York's cap situation is less than enviable.

The Rangers have an estimated $2.2 million in cap space, per Cap Friendly, and don't have any big contracts coming off the books before Zibanejad requires a new deal.

However, the expiring, smaller-scale contracts of Brandon Pirri, Jesper Fast, Matt Puempel, Oscar Lindberg, and Adam Clendening - all RFAs - could create some wiggle room.

That said, New York looks stuck between true contender status and an unavoidable rebuild, and unloading contracts to ensure Zibanejad sticks around could be the safest bet in securing the latter scenario is successful.

What's he worth?

Because it prolongs the overall process, bridge deals are becoming less frequent in toady's NHL, and locking Zibanejad up long term is likely in the Rangers' best interest, especially considering his leg injury could drive down his price.

For comparison's sake, Ducks forward Rickard Rakell, who owns a career points per game of 0.52, and is also 23, netted a six-year extension worth $3.8 annually.

Considering Zibanejad's similar production, and impact on the Rangers' offense in limited action, a deal like Rakell's could be on the horizon.