Although one season remains of Mika Zibanejad's current contract, neither Rangers nor the top center wanted to wait.

He was recently selected, as one of three Swedish stars, in Tre Kronor's first selection for the Olympics in Beijing.

The other two were Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog and star defender Victor Hedman.

SVT Sport has received an exclusive interview with the Swedish target shooter who has signed for another eight seasons.

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I could not even fantasize about this when I first played with club and ball in Vårby farm with my brother, he says.

Worth almost 700 million kronor

The total value of the contract is 68 million dollars, almost 700 million kronor.       

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I have enjoyed every second!

It's Mika who's been nervous.

The challenges in this negotiation were to find a way to create the best conditions, not only for Mika but also for the New York Rangers where the common goal is to win the Stanley Cup.

We have done that with this and I want to congratulate Mika, Rangers and the city of New York, says Zibanejad's brother and agent Monir Kalgoum.

The 28-year-old thrives perfectly in New York and the organization Rangers.

There was no doubt that he wanted to continue playing there.

Discussions have been going on since the end of last season, but now everything is ready.

The contract will be signed tonight at a press conference where the news will be presented by Rangers.       

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Fantastically nice to be here for another eight years.

Irma and I are looking forward to continuing our life in New York.

He is now in his eleventh season in the world's best league and will be able to look back on almost 20 years there if the contract is fulfilled.

In recent years, Zibanejad has grown into one of Rangers' most important players and is the team's first center.

"Focuses on winning"

Last year, he started weakly after having covid-19, but he finished at the same level as previous years with a red-hot form.

He scored the most goals two years ago when he was the NHL's top scorer in terms of the number of games played.

In the 2019/2020 season, he scored 41 goals in 56 games.       

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Now I focus on winning.

The direction the organization is heading towards looks promising for the future.

The goal is to take the Stanley Cup back to where it belongs.

I'm extremely happy that Rangers believe in me and would like to extend a special thank you to Chris Drury (Rangers general manager) and the entire Rangers organization.

I would also like to thank my agent and brother Monir Kalgoum.

Zibanejad's track record includes a World Cup gold from 2018 in Denmark, but he is perhaps best known for having decided the junior WC 2012 in Calgary.

There, a 30-year-old Swedish suite without gold was broken.       

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An incredible honor to have the chance to continue to represent Sweden.

Now closest to the Beijing Olympics.

Now only Olympic gold is missing in the national team collection and winning, that's what drives me.