The New York Rangers face a major decision on the future of star forward Artemi Panarin. Panarin is entering the final year of his seven-year, $81.5 million contract, leading to questions about what lies ahead for the Russian forward.
NHL Insider Frank Seravalli discussed how the Rangers must decide soon about what the future holds for the 33-year-old. Panarin is set to become a UFA next summer. That situation means the team has to roads: Re-sign or trade him.
However, it’s not that easy. Per Seravalli, Panarin’s value to the Rangers makes trading him unfathomable. He stated:
“Is Artemi Panarin one of the best free agent signings of all time? Like if you look at his contract, if you look at his AAV, if you look at his production, and how he also lifted the New York Rangers, from a team that was rebuilding to coming out of that really successful run of hockey for the team, it fit their cap picture.”
Panarin signed a record contract at the time, leading to questions about his ability to live up to the deal. Six years later, those critics have been silenced.
Nevertheless, questions now emerge about the future. Seravalli believes that the Rangers will find a way to The Breadman. He added:
“I’d have to think that there’s a way to work out a new deal for the breadman.”
For now, it is unclear what a new contract for Panarin would look like at this point. Perhaps the two sides are willing to work out a short-term deal. Maybe the Rangers are comfortable with one major multi-year contract. It all depends on both sides’ willingness to work out a middle-ground solution.
Panarin Among Rangers’ Untouchables
A June 8 piece in The Hockey News looked at Arthur Staple’s comments in The Athletic, stating that the Rangers had only three untouchable players: Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, and Artemi Panarin.
That situation would make sense on the surface. The three aforementioned players are cornerstone pieces for the Blue Shirts moving forward. Despite Panarin being on the older side, he’s shown that he’s still an effective player.
So, That situation begs the question: Would the Rangers be willing to trade Panarin if they were tunable to work out an extension?
It’s an intriguing thought. The Rangers may feel cornered and could act in desperation if the team felt there was truly no way of working out an extension with Panarin.
But as it stands, there’s no reason that could be the case.
New York Dumping High-Priced Veterans
A trend with the Rangers this past season has been the dumping of high-priced veterans. GM Chris Drury made that evident with the Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider trades. Coincidentally, both players ended up with the Anaheim Ducks.
As such, the idea appears to be that the Rangers want to unshackle themselves from long-term commitments to declining players.
So, would that philosophy affect Artemi Panarin’s next contract? Could the Rangers feel that Panarin is a high-priced, declining veteran?
Panarin saw a natural regression from his video game-line 2023-24 season in which he scored 49 goals and 120 points. This past season, Panarin scored 37 goals and 89 points in 82 games. Those are stellar numbers, but not quite what he registered the year before.
His 89 points are more in line with his career averages. So, it’s safe to assume that Artemi Panarin is hardly on the decline, at least not yet.
Ultimately, that situation could prompt the Rangers to sign Panarin to one last multi-year deal. Something in the four to five-year range could get be the way to go. But if the Rangers feel that Panarin is set for a rapid decline, fans shouldn’t be surprised to hear trade rumblings pick up soon enough.
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