Marian Gaborik: Profiling the New York Rangers Star Forward

Born in Trencin, Slovakia, right winger Marian Gaborik became the star he is today. Starting junior hockey at the age of 15 is no easy task, and not only did Gaborik become a junior star at age 15, but he also began his professional Ice Hockey career.

In 1997-98, Gaborik began playing professional hockey for Dukla Trencin of the Slovak Extraliga; he only appeared in one game that season, but one game was enough for him to prove his talent as he scored one goal in his debut.

The next season, he would sign with Dukla Trencin and spend two seasons with them before moving to the NHL.

Dukla Trencin

In his two seasons with the team, Gaborik appeared in 83 games and scored a total of 36 goals and 66 points. He would return to play with Dukla Trencin during the NHL lockout in 2004-05 and in his return season, he dominated the league scoring 52 points in only 29 games.

2000 NHL Entry Draft

Gaborik was a much sought-after player in the 2000 NHL entry draft.

With his power-forward mentality, Gaborik had a quick shot and was an extremely fast skater.

After watching Rick DiPietro get drafted first overall by the Islanders, and Dany Heatley drafted second overall by the Thrashers, it was Gaborik’s turn.

With the third selection of the 2000 NHL entry draft, the Minnesota Wild chose Gaborik as their future star.

Minnesota Wild

Gaborik quickly made his presence known in the NHL by scoring an impressive 18 goals and 36 points in his rookie season.

In Gaborik’s second and third NHL seasons with Minnesota, he scored a combined 60 goals and 132 points, while also making his first All-Star game appearance in 2002-2003.

In that same season, Gaborik also led the Minnesota Wild to their first playoff appearance and almost took them to the cup before losing to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the Western Conference Finals.

Due to contract issues during the summer of 2003, Gaborik was limited to only 65 games in the 2003-04 season. In those 65 games played, Gaborik notched 18 goals and 22 assists, for a total of 40 points.

Oddly enough, Gaborik was limited to 65 games once again in the 2005-06 season (after the lockout), but this time it was for a groin injury. Though Gaborik missed a good amount of playing time that season, he still became a point-per-game player by totaling 66 points in 65 games for the Wild.          

In 2006-07, things only got worse for the super-star forward as he was limited to 48 games that season. But nevertheless, Gaborik shined once more scoring a total of 30 goals and 57 points for Minnesota.

The next season (2007-08) Gaborik would return to his normal form, participating in 77 games, and scoring a season high 42 goals, 41 assists, and an impressive 83 points.

The super-star right winger appeared in his second All-Star game that season and ended the year as captain of the Minnesota Wild. He would lead his team into the playoffs but would only go as far as the first round, losing to the Colorado Avalanche in six games.

Entering his final season with the Minnesota Wild in 2008-09, Gaborik was limited to only 17 games due to a lower-body injury. But Gaborik would still manage to score 13 goals and 23 points for the Wild that season.

Free Agency 2009-10

After turning down an offer from the Wild of $80 million over 10 seasons, Gaborik became an unrestricted free agent over the summer of 2009 and signed a five year contract worth $37 million with the New York Rangers.

New York Rangers

Glen Sather knew he needed to add a proven goal scorer to his roster, and he did just that. With the addition of Gaborik, the Rangers had a player to try and build an offense around.

Though the 2009-10 season didn't go as planned for the Rangers and their offense, Gaborik had a career high season by scoring 42 goals and 86 points in 76 games.

The Rangers missed the playoffs, but it certainly was not Gaborik’s fault.

2010-11 Season Expectations

With the addition of Alexander Frolov and the possibility of young center Derek Stepan making the team, the Rangers have added forwards to play with their super star right winger.

Gaborik has already proven that he is capable of scoring 40 goals a season, but I think we can expect more from him in 2010-11.

With Frolov, a proven playmaker, on his opposite wing and with the expectations of Gaborik having another healthy season, I have a feeling he can boost his stats higher than ever before.

The potential is there for Gaborik to become a 50 goal scorer for the first time in his career this season.