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Updated Landing Spots for the Rangers' Artemi Panarin Amid NHL Trade Deadline Rumors
The New York Rangers aren't just having a fire sale—they're practically running a bake sale after officially putting Artemi Panarin on the trading block.
Ahead of their game on Wednesday night against the rival New York Islanders, we learned the Rangers were going to sit out the Breadman for asset management reasons.
With Panarin out of the lineup until at least the Olympic roster freeze on February 4, it's another blow for Rangers fans in a brutal season.
Panarin has a no-move clause, which means he can decide when and where he moves, but he's also reportedly going to demand that, when he's moved, a new contract be waiting for him wherever he goes.
The clock is ticking for Rangers GM Chris Drury to get a deal done ASAP so both New York and Panarin can move on, but the biggest question is where he could end up?
We're going to take a look at a handful of possible places Panarin could go and with a ton of teams in the playoff races in the East and West, the demand could be immense. Time is of the essence, though, so let's find a new home for the Breadman.
Carolina Hurricanes
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The Rangers' fall to the bottom of the standings makes them ripe for the picking, and with Artemi Panarin beyond available, it makes it the perfect storm for the Hurricanes to try and land the marquee forward they've hunted for years.
Even though things didn't work out with Mikko Rantanen last season, Carolina landing Panarin would accomplish a couple of things. It would net the Hurricanes the star forward they have tried to add over the past few seasons, strengthening their roster for the playoff race to come. They haven't been shy about pursuing big stars, and Panarin being so readily available should mean Carolina's been trying their hardest to make a deal.
Adding Panarin would also give Carolina the opportunity to offload Jesperi Kotkaniemi a bit easier, since the salary cap hit trade-off would make it easier for both the Rangers to save money on the cap and the Hurricanes to better carve out room for themselves despite already having a good amount to work with.
Carolina knows the time to advance to the Stanley Cup Final is now, and with the play of Brandon Bussi in goal, they could do just that. If they landed Panarin to help meet that end, it would be hard not buy into what they're doing.
Dallas Stars
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The arms race we anticipated happening in the Central Division, thanks to the Minnesota Wild adding Quinn Hughes, hasn't materialized yet, but with the Colorado Avalanche hitting some snags recently, it's opened the door for hope, and if the Stars want to seize on that, adding Artemi Panarin would do the trick.
Panarin would give Dallas another dangerous scorer to add to the mix to go along with Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Roope Hintz. With how loaded up the Avalanche and Wild are now, the Stars adding their own elite player via trade would make the playoff positioning race even more intense.
There is some trickiness to this idea, however. With Robertson being an RFA this summer and in need of a new deal, and Rantanen, Johnston, Miro Heiskanen, and Thomas Harley already getting paid or set to be paid in a big way, getting Panarin the new contract he seeks after being dealt is much harder.
Adding Panarin could force Stars GM Jim Nill to decide how they're going to handle Robertson's situation and if nothing else, they're probably looking at that as an offseason top of the to-do list item. That said, flags fly forever, and the Stanley Cup hasn't been in Dallas since 1999. It's go-time.
Florida Panthers
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If there's a team to be wary of heading towards the trade deadline in March, it's the Panthers. They've got LTIR money to use, they're in the battle royale for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, and they're the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, which means they're going to do whatever they can to go for a three-peat.
Going after Artemi Panarin and figuring out the logistics with the cap later on would be a classic move by GM Bill Zito.
The Panthers are poised to get fired up for a late-season run now that Matthew Tkachuk is back, and after seeing Aleksander Barkov hitting the ice again recently, it's hard not think they'll look to make another big splash. After all, they added Seth Jones and Brad Marchand a year ago, and both players helped push them over the top.
Florida has plenty of needs to fill holes made by injuries, but Panarin would be such a hammer-drop by them to go for broke. If there's a reason to doubt them pulling it off, it would be Panarin's desire to have a new contract to go with a trade. That kind of thing could make the Panthers' future more difficult to navigate.
Detroit Red Wings
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The Red Wings are in a battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning atop the Atlantic Division, but they could prove to be one of the most dangerous teams to watch at the trade deadline.
Detroit has a lot of cap space to work with (roughly $14 million), and they've got a team that has an elite defenseman in Moritz Seider, a handful of good scorers, and goalie John Gibson has been fantastic. If they want to not just fend off Tampa Bay for the Atlantic crown but take it and be a true Stanley Cup contender, adding Artemi Panarin might just do the trick.
Adding Panarin wouldn't just help the Red Wings' lineup, but it would also prevent him from landing on any rival rosters. Picture Panarin lining up next to Dylan Larkin or maybe even Marco Kasper and having Lucas Raymond or former Rangers teammate Patrick Kane as fellow wingers.
The Wings already play well enough and score enough to win a lot of games, but adding a player like Panarin would make them unbearably difficult to manage in the postseason.
Los Angeles Kings
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The Kings are at a bit of a crossroads with Anže Kopitar set to retire after this season, and their offense is already in a tough place even with him. If they were to add Artemi Panarin, however, that could be the kind of move that helps address both issues simultaneously.
Kopitar as a center is nearly impossible to replace, but Quinton Byfield's play has grown to the point where he's already a tremendous defender up front, and his offense could use a bit more juice. If Panarin were to become one of his wingers, that would qualify as a lot of juice.
Panarin's offensive creativity is elite, and while the Kings could certainly use more help up the middle, adding another high-end winger to the lineup alongside Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe, and Andrei Kuzmenko would go a long way toward making their centers look much stronger.
L.A. has the third-fewest goals scored in the NHL, and its 2.61 goals per game is the fifth-lowest in the league. Panarin would undoubtedly help them address those causes and improve those numbers.
Tampa Bay Lightning
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The Rangers and Lightning have a long history of making big trades with each other, and with Artemi Panarin about to be moved, why not another one?
Tampa Bay seemingly can't go a game these days without losing someone to injury (Victor Hedman, Brayden Point), and with the Lightning looking ever more like a Stanley Cup contender yet again, they're going to need to steel themselves to better make a run at it.
Panarin in Tampa Bay would give them a troika of Russian superstars with Nikita Kucherov and Andre Vasilevskiy already there and having outstanding seasons yet again. The Lightning could also stand to better deepen their forward group. Even before they started losing players to injury, their lineup looked (on paper at least) like it could use a lift. Panarin would more than do that.
Tampa Bay's biggest roadblock to adding Panarin, however, would be its cap space. They've got less than a million dollars to work with, and while it's easier to figure out closer to the deadline, it would take some creativity on Lightning GM Julien BriseBois's part to make adding Panarin work. Given his track record, it'd probably be doable, just not to the naked eye.
Washington Capitals
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The Capitals have been in a bit of a funk recently, but if they want to get an offensive jolt and give Alex Ovechkin someone to jive with, Artemi Panarin could do it.
We'd like to say the idea of the Rangers trading with a division rival would be out of bounds, but they just made a deal with the Islanders this week, so anything can happen.
Washington makes for an awkward match with the Rangers, however, since the young players and picks they'd demand aren't quite in abundance from the Capitals. There's also the question of how much future cap space Washington would want to allot and pay Panarin in the years to come.
Adding Panarin might also put a spotlight on the elephant in the room regarding Ovechkin and how many more years he wants to play in the NHL. Ovechkin will be a free agent this summer, and at 40 years old, retirement is coming sooner than later. Adding Panarin would give the Capitals the chance to soften the blow of losing Ovi immensely.
Salary cap information provided by Puckpedia.
San Jose Sharks
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Who doesn't love late, breaking news?
The Sharks are in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference and with the likes of young stars Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund along with veterans Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg, the best way for them to help better secure a return to the postseason would be to add Artemi Panarin.
Sheng Peng reports the Sharks have indeed asked the Rangers about adding the Breadman to their coffers and he would sign an extension to stay in San Jose. Panarin joining the young core the Sharks have would give them another highly skilled veteran to make their offensive attack even more dangerous.
Perhaps the Sharks didn't know they'd be this far into the playoff hunt so quickly, but GM Mike Grier has been able to make the right moves to put them into this position now. Given the number of young prospects they've got still waiting in the wings and developing, that also means they have the ability to make an offer the Rangers would be hard pressed to refuse.
