Breaking Down the Rangers' Artemi Panarin Trade Return, Featuring Liam Greentree Scouting Report

Artemi Panarin was arguably the biggest fish available this trade deadline, and after a last-minute deal before the Olympic break, he is now a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

The entire hockey world has been speculating what the return might be—we took a look at a few potential trade packages ourselves—and given where the market was set, the general consensus was that the return would be huge. NHL reporter Jimmy Murphy even mentioned that the New York Rangers asked for forward Will Smith from the San Jose Sharks or forward Ryan Leonard from the Washington Capitals.

Obviously, this was a no-go, and given that those young players are cornerstones for their franchises, I can understand why. (I can also understand why the Rangers asked, given both their talent and their history of playing with Rangers forward Gabe Perreault.)

So how did we get from players like Will Smith and Ryan Leonard to prospect Liam Greentree and one, possibly two, conditional picks? And what does Greentree bring to the Rangers' prospect pool?

Player: Liam Greentree

Position: Right wing

Team: Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 216 lbs

Drafted: 26th overall by the Los Angeles Kings, 2024

2025-26 Points: 45 points (23 goals, 22 assists) in 35 games 

Quick summary of Liam Greentree: he's a power-forward-style player, currently captaining the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL. Greentree has always been a player I liked, but that should come with the understanding that both the risk and reward of Greentree were high. His hockey sense and puck skills are elite; his skating left a lot to be desired in his draft year, though in the interim, he's done a decent amount of work to alleviate those concerns. 

If you know me, you know I love nuance, so we're wading into "both things can be true" territory here. The Rangers are getting a good prospect. At the same time, they're not getting the sort of dynamic boost to their prospect pool that trading a player like Panarin should bring. Greentree brings both positives and concerns, and he's bringing them to a team that, frankly, hasn't had a good track record of developing prospects lately.

Let's break his game down further.

Greentree's Strengths

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When it comes to Greentree, I look at his concerns and see what can be worked out. Then I look at his strengths and see so much more.

Quick pro outlook: best-case scenario, he's a crafty, powerful top-six winger who racks up points by being a phenomenal facilitator for teammates and by using his excellent shot to score his own goals, too. Worst-case scenario (reasonably, not spinning scary stories), he's a top-nine threat who brings excellent defensive awareness and still adds scoring.

First thing you should know about Greentree? He's an excellent puck-carrier and playmaker, creative without getting too flashy, able to create space for himself, and easily find teammates. He's so intelligent, easily finding ways to navigate around opponents and creating or finding options on the breakout without breaking a sweat. And don't let the playmaking fool you. He is also a threat as a scorer, largely because of his puck skills, finding lanes for his quick wrist shot—and when he can't find them, he makes them. 

His defensive game is also high-end; he backchecks like it's his sole focus. Nothing short of full buy-in from Greentree defensively. He's got strength and a high-end work ethic that sees him cutting down lanes, using his stick skills to break up opportunities and take back pucks. 

Greentree's strengths, along with the fact that he is 20 and can make the jump to the NHL sooner than, say, a first-round pick who hasn't been selected yet, made him the best option for the Rangers as far as L.A. prospects go. And with reports suggesting Panarin would only go to the Kings, their hands were tied.

It's making the best of a bad situation 101—you can't come out on top, you can only mitigate the fallout, and given their options, I don't hate what the Rangers did here in these specific circumstances. (Looking at the bigger picture, I feel a bit differently. But that's not what we're here for.)

Greentree's Weaknesses

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Skating was a huge weakness for Greentree in his draft year. Where EliteProspects graded the majority of his other skills—hockey sense, shooting, passing, puckhandling—a 7, which is about as good as it gets till you get into Crosby or McDavid territory, his skating received a grade of 4.5. Not ideal. He was awkward and a bit too slow to skate at an NHL level. 

Since then, we've seen marked improvement. I'm never going to tell you Greentree is one of the better skaters out there, but he's got bursts of speed he didn't have back in his draft year, and he's strong enough that when he's using them, he can kind of just power through his opponents. I'd like to see him add further acceleration and or improve his top speed, though—it'll give him that much more separation. I think he needs better foot speed to balance how he slows the game for himself, playmaking-wise.

Other weaknesses are more opportunities: improving his puck-carrying so that he can create more off the rush, improving one-on-one play, that sort of thing. My primary concern is honestly the decrease in his rate of production, but I fear we often see this with players who completely dominate their major-junior league in their post-draft season, and Greentree had 119 points last year. He could've benefitted from spending time in the AHL this season rather than going back to the OHL if it weren't for the CHL-NHL agreement.

Those Conditional Picks

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The other part of the trade return was two conditional draft picks. Currently, they are third- and fourth-round picks, but this could change depending on how the Kings do in the playoffs. Either way, the third-round pick will be the best of the two third-rounders the Kings have. If they win a playoff round, it turns into a second-round pick. If they win two, the Rangers will receive an additional fourth-round pick in 2028.

I feel like I need one of those conspiracy-theory red-string boards to keep up with all the conditions on trades these days.

So what can the Rangers reasonably expect to get out of these picks? If it's just a third-rounder, some basic hit-or-miss value. If it becomes a second-rounder, you're getting into "I love this player, and he's worth taking a swing" territory. Adding a 2028 fourth-round pick doesn't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things; that selection will inevitably get included in some other trade long before the Rangers ever use it. 

Overall, the return is underwhelming. Greentree is really the only bit of the return worth counting on here.