Why The Rangers and Their Fans Should Thank Panarin

It is pretty clear that New York Rangers' President and General Manager Chris Drury wants to trade superstar forward Artemi Panarin.

For starters, Panarin, 34, is in the last year of his big free agent contract, which was seven-year, $81.5 million deal that he signed back on July 1, 2019. Drury can either risk losing him for nothing or he can trade him and get assets and solid NHL players right now.

Secondly, Panarin is expected to ask for a big payday on the open market. Panarin is reportedly looking for a long-term deal that would take him into a season in which he turns 40 years old.

Lastly, based on the letter that Drury crafted a few weeks ago, it is clear that the franchise is going in a new direction. Everyone in the hockey world should know that they are nowhere near being Cup contenders, and that in order to make that happen, the team needs to shed some players and cap space.

Whenever the deal happens, both the Rangers and their fans should thank and cheer Panarin for all he did for the team in his tenure on Broadway. It is safe to say that Panarin was the team's best free agent signing in franchise history.

For starters, Panarin has produced at an incredibly high level year in and year out in the regular season. According to NHL.com, Panarin has averaged 1.26 points per game since joining the Blueshirts, which is good for sixth most among in the NHL among 275 players who have appeared in at least 400 games over that span.

Secondly, he has led the team in scoring ever since he joined the franchise. Here are his current point totals (As of Wednesday, January 28) since signing on Broadway:

- 2019-20: 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points in 69 games (COVID-shortened season)
- 2020-21: 17 goals and 41 assists for 58 points in 42 games (COVID-shortened season)
- 2021-22: 22 goals and 74 assists for 96 points in 75 games
- 2022-23: 29 goals and 63 assists for 92 points in 82 games
- 2023-24: 49 goals and 71 assists for 120 points in 82 games - 2024-25: 37 goals and 52 assists for 89 points in 80 games

As can be expected, Panarin is currently leading the team in scoring this season as he has 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points in 52 games. According to Adam Vignan at Sportsnet.ca, Panarin is the player that makes the Rangers' offense go.

Panarin is the fuel that powers New York’s offence. He is the Rangers’ runaway leader in offensive-zone possession time at 53:35 this season (1:02 per game). Captain J.T. Miller is next at 31:04 of total OZ possession time. Only seven players — Connor McDavid, Quinn Hughes, Mathew Barzal, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Eichel and Clayton Keller — have recorded more OZ possession time than Panarin this season.

Panarin (40.4 per cent) is also one of six players this season who have factored on at least 40 per cent of their team’s total goals. McDavid (49.5 per cent), Macklin Celebrini (48.1 per cent), Nikita Kucherov (45.5 per cent), MacKinnon (44.7 per cent) and Mark Scheifele (41.2 per cent) are the others.

Panarin has also been a solid contributor in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes, he has gone quiet in crucial games in the postseason, but overall, he has put up points as can be seen below:

- 2021-22: Six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 20 games
- 2022-23: Two assists for two points in seven games
- 2023-24: Five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 16 games

If you are counting at home, that is 33 points in 43 games. Again, his totals in the playoffs should be higher, but compared to what some of his teammates did, those numbers are still solid.

Lastly, Panarin was someone who was rarely injured. He has not missed a lot of games with the Rangers and whenever he did, it was never for a long amount of time.

There is no doubt that the Rangers are going to miss Panarin and his offense whenever he gets dealt. As such, the team and their fans need to pay him their respect once Drury finds a willing team to make a deal with.