Rangers GM Chris Drury Should Be On The Hot Seat
The New York Rangers’ communications release last week showed the world a couple of things. The first was that the team was headed towards a retool, which was pretty evident to anyone who has watched them this season.
The second was that the team needs to move on from the current general manager, Chris Drury, but it’s doubtful they will. The current predicament the Rangers are in can’t be placed squarely at Drury’s feet, but many of the issues the team is going through were the result of his roster management, and the fans have let him and the team know it.
When Drury first took on the role of associate general manager in February 2021, it was clear he would eventually run an NHL team. It didn’t take long.
He was handed the job as president and general manager in May 2021 after the Rangers missed the playoffs and fired president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton. That was a banner day for Drury, but it came at a strange time for the franchise, which had been building a solid core of young players and was close to pivoting into a contender.
At the same time, they had missed the playoffs four years in a row and were just two days removed from the notorious Tom Wilson incident at Madison Square Garden. Drury took control and hit the ground running in the summer of 2021.
His summer was clearly shaped by what had happened to the Rangers during the Wilson incident on May 3, 2021. Drury single-handedly re-configured the team, and not in a good way, although they would enjoy some short-term success in 2022 and 2024.
Drury fired head coach David Quinn and replaced him with Gerard Gallant. There was nothing wrong with that move, but Drury then spent the rest of the summer setting fire to the Rangers roster and ultimately a lot of cap space and assets.
Drury started his summer by signing forward Barclay Goodrow to a six-year deal carrying a $3.64MM AAV, meant to bring toughness and grit to the Rangers lineup. It was a massive overpay, panned by many, who agreed that Drury gave too much term and money to a player who wasn’t productive enough.
A week later, Drury moved Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick. The move, which might go down as one of the worst so far in the 2020s, effectively opened a massive hole in New York’s top six that they didn’t have a player to fill.
As if the Buchnevich deal wasn’t bad enough, Drury then signed Patrik Nemeth to an ill-advised three-year deal worth $7.5MM, which the Rangers had to burn two second-round picks to dump on the Arizona Coyotes a year later. At the time, some folks might have claimed it was a good move to move on from Nemeth and open up cap space for other moves (which it was). However, eventually burning through cap space and assets catches up to you, as the Rangers have found out over the last year and a half.
Right after signing Nemeth, Drury made another move to add toughness, trading for Ryan Reaves of the Vegas Golden Knights (for a third-round pick) and giving him a contract extension. Much like with Nemeth and Goodrow, Drury eventually realized he had made a mistake in acquiring the player and had to pivot. Reaves was shipped to Minnesota 16 months after he was acquired for a fifth-round pick.
The summer of 2021 began with Drury significantly misreading the Rangers’ roster. Still, his poor work during that time is often forgotten because he made some good moves the following season at the 2022 trade deadline, acquiring the likes of Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano and leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The summer of 2022 and beyond saw better work from Drury, as he traded Alexandar Georgiev for draft picks, moved on from Nemeth and Reaves, sent Nils Lundkvist to the Dallas Stars for a first-round pick, and signed Vincent Trocheck as a UFA. Trading Georgiev was necessary and was probably the best long-term move for the team, while sending Lundkvist to the Stars was a gamble for both sides, but given his poor performance to this point, it was probably a clever play for Drury.
There have been solid moves by Drury, but unfortunately for the Rangers, the wins have been far outweighed by the losses. The rest of 2022 saw the Rangers claim Jake Leschyshyn off waivers and sign defenseman Ben Harpur. They also locked up forward Filip Chytil to a four-year deal that seemed fine at the time but would eventually be moved in the 2025 J.T. Miller trade.
The Trocheck signing yielded immediate results, as the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native was a seamless fit with the Rangers, providing two-way play and offensive numbers above his career average. Trocheck has offered tremendous value to the Rangers as he crosses the halfway point of his seven-year deal, and he is in the midst of a solid season with New York despite the team’s poor play. Given the rising cap, Trocheck could be a valuable trade chip, although it’s likely the Rangers will want to hang onto him if they are, in fact, completing a retool.
The 2023 trade deadline was one to forget for Drury, as he went all in, trading for Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, Patrick Kane and Tyler Motte. The moves for Mikkola and Motte didn’t push many assets out the door, nor did the Tarasenko trade. But trading for Kane was a move that probably didn’t need to happen after the Tarasenko trade, and it relieved the Rangers of another three draft picks in exchange for a Kane who wasn’t playing at full capacity due to a hip injury.
The wheels came off for the Rangers in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, as they fell to the New Jersey Devils in seven games, in what could best be described as an uninspired performance that showed a lack of leadership.
Drury spent the summer of 2023 overcorrecting this issue, but it appeared to work as the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals once again in 2024. Drury signed aging veterans Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Jonathan Quick, Riley Nash and Erik Gustafsson to low-cost short-term contracts, which produced mixed results. Quick and Gustafsson played well for New York, while Bonino, Wheeler and Nash had minimal impact and didn’t finish the year on the playoff roster. Given the low cost of acquiring the players, they were worth the gamble and, once again, provided Drury with some small wins.
However, in 2024, the wheels really began to come off for the Rangers shortly after they signed goaltender Igor Shesterkin to a record-breaking, $92MM, eight-year extension.
The deal came on the heels of the team trading captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks to create cap space to sign Shesterkin. Trading Trouba made a lot of sense given his high cap hit and minimal production in New York. He’d become a lightning rod for criticism, and it became apparent that the team wanted to get rid of him the prior summer, which they eventually did.
For whatever reason, that series of events appears to have fractured the Rangers’ dressing room, and they’ve never been the same since that fateful weekend in December 2024.
The team has fallen off considerably, and Drury has shown little direction, at times appearing to rely solely on gut instinct. This is, of course, the perspective of an outsider, but the results are what they are. This is a flawed hockey team that has always been flawed, even when it reached the conference finals. Shesterkin’s play masked many of the team’s shortcomings, and Drury overvalued his own roster as a result. Perhaps Drury can lead the Rangers back to contention, but given his work over the past five years, it doesn’t seem likely.
It’s tough to evaluate the last 12 months in a vacuum. Still, Drury has made some franchise-altering moves, including trading for J.T. Miller, moving Chris Kreider to Anaheim, trading K’Andre Miller to Carolina, and signing Vladislav Gavrikov. It’s tough to gauge how everything will work out, but Kreider is flirting with a 30-goal season in Anaheim, while Miller could set a career high in points with the Hurricanes. Miller and Gavrikov have struggled this year, leading to a negative early return on some significant moves Drury made.
Also, the strange Calvin de Haan situation from last spring raises questions about morale within the Rangers organization right now. You either sell winning or you sell hope, and right now the Rangers don’t have either to sell. Drury is locked in under a contract he signed less than a year ago, but given how things have worked out, the Rangers probably need to look elsewhere for someone who can build a championship roster.
Latest On New York Rangers, Alexis Lafreniere
As soon as the New York Rangers announced a retool to finish out the 2025-26 campaign, all eyes turned toward Artemi Panarin as a trade candidate leading up to the March 6th deadline. Still, outside of Panarin, there is another winger that the Rangers may move on from by the end of the season.
According to a recent article by Peter Baugh in The Athletic, there are indications that General Manager Chris Drury does not consider Alexis Lafrenière to be part of the team’s core moving forward. In fact, reports last week suggested that Drury met one-on-one with each of the team’s core players. Lafrenière told reporters on Monday that Drury never met with him individually.
If the Rangers seriously entertain offers for Lafrenière, and there’s no indication that they won’t, the major hurdle in any negotiation will be his contract. Lafrenière signed a seven-year, $52.15MM extension with New York last season, which began this year. Still, he doesn’t have any trade protection until the 2027-28 campaign. Even then, it’ll only be an eight-team no-trade list.
Fortunately for New York, as Baugh points out, the team has a recent trade comparable to Lafrenière. Last season, at the trade deadline, the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres traded Dylan Cozens for Joshua Norris, a swap that has seemingly benefited both sides, provided Norris can stay healthy.
At the time, each player had six years remaining on their respective contracts, with Cozens earning $7.1MM and Norris earning $7.9MM. Unfortunately, there aren’t many younger players earning similar amounts to Lafrenière that would make sense for a trade. Pavel Buchnevich of the St. Louis Blues ($8MM through 2030-31) and Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks ($7.25MM through 2031-32) make some sense as fellow struggling wingers. However, the Rangers would likely ask for more considering Lafrenière is a former first-overall pick.
Regardless, moving on from top-10 picks has become a trend for the Rangers in years past. Since the 2010 NHL Draft, New York has had five first-round picks fall within the top-10, and Lafrenière is the only one that remains.
Now in his sixth season, Lafrenière has not lived up to his draft billing. During the 2023-24 campaign, he appeared to be breaking out, scoring 28 goals and 57 points in 82 games, averaging 17:16 of ice time per night. He’s never been much of a defensive stalwart, though his possession metrics are typically above average.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t come close to reaching those totals. His output dropped to 17 goals and 45 points in 82 games last season, and he’s again pacing toward 45 points this year. The only thing that Lafrenière really has going for him is that he’s remained remarkably healthy throughout his career. At the time of writing, he has only missed four regular-season contests for the Rangers.
Still, if they don’t receive a beneficial offer for Lafrenière, the Rangers aren’t really in any rush. He won’t have trade protection in his contract next season, either, which could allow New York to push serious trade negotiations to the summer. Lafrenière projects as an asset that may be a later domino to fall in the Rangers’ retool.
Latest On Carson Soucy
The Montreal Canadiens shared earlier today that Alexandre Texier is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. As expected, the forward was not in the lineup tonight against Minnesota, as Kirby Dach, activated earlier today from LTIR, is back in the fold.
It is not immediately clear where the injury came from, as Texier finished last Saturday’s win over Ottawa without apparent issue. Since coming over to Montreal in November, Texier has found new life, with 16 points in 27 games as he’s enjoying a top six role. Although still a small sample size, such production is the best in his career, as his best campaign to this point was a 30-point effort as a Blue Jacket in 2023-24. The 26-year-old could be back as soon as Thursday, as the Habs host Buffalo.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The New York Rangers will welcome back Carson Soucy tonight in Los Angeles, as Head Coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Peter Baugh of The Athletic. Soucy missed the team’s last two games, a win and loss split, due to personal reasons (maternity). The 31-year-old has skated in 44 games so far this season, averaging 17:18 per night in a second-pairing role. With the team on the brink of another shake-up, Soucy, a pending unrestricted free agent, has been speculated as a trade candidate at some point. In the meantime, Urho Vaakanainen is expected to drop out of the lineup for Soucy.
- Former Washington Capitals forward Pierrick Dube is headed back to North America, as first reported by Patrick Williams of TheAHL.com. Dube has signed with the Bridgeport Islanders to a standard player contract, as announced by the team. The 25-year-old left the AHL for the KHL this season, spending time with Chelyabinsk Traktor and St. Petersburg SKA, posting 16 points across 28 total games. While abroad on the two teams, Dube played alongside fellow former NHLers including Josh Leivo and Rocco Grimaldi. A Calder Cup Champion with three NHL games under his belt, Dube will join the 24th-ranked Islanders, in need of forward help. The France native is an accomplished AHL player, with a career-best 48 points in 66 games with the Hershey Bears in 2023-24.
Phil Goyette Passes Away
Long-time NHL forward Phil Goyette has passed away at the age of 92, per an announcement from the Canadiens, one of his former teams.
Goyette made his NHL debut for Montreal in 1957, playing 14 regular-season games before becoming a regular in the playoffs to help lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup. That turned out to be his first of four straight Cup victories through the 1959-60 season. Goyette spent three more years with Montreal after that before joining the Rangers for the 1963-64 campaign.
Goyette spent another seven seasons in New York, putting up three seasons of more than 60 points, his best production by far to that point in his career.
He found another level offensively upon joining St. Louis in 1969. In his first season with the Blues, Goyette finished fourth in league scoring, picking up 78 points in 72 games, his first of two straight seasons of recording more than a point per game. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy that season as the league’s Most Gentlemanly Player. However, that was his only season in St. Louis as Buffalo selected him in the 1970 Expansion Draft.
Goyette went on to play parts of two seasons with the Sabres before wrapping up his playing career back with the Rangers. Overall, he played in 940 career regular season games, recording 674 points while chipping in with 46 points in 94 playoff contests with those four Stanley Cup titles.
Upon retiring as a player, Goyette decided to give coaching a chance as he was named the inaugural head coach for the Islanders in 1972, spending a partial season with them.
Rangers Recall Anton Blidh
The Rangers announced Sunday they’ve recalled winger Anton Blidh from AHL Hartford. They had an open roster spot after sending defenseman Connor Mackey down to Hartford yesterday.
Blidh, 30, has seen more roster moves in the past three weeks than he’s seen in the past couple of years. He was recalled from Hartford on New Year’s Day ahead of the Winter Classic amid a rash of injuries and remained up until being sent back to the AHL on Jan. 11.
Now, he finds himself on the NHL roster for the second time this season. He suited up twice for the Rangers earlier this month, his first NHL appearances since making his New York debut in January 2024. The veteran depth option has played almost exclusively in the AHL for Hartford since being acquired from the Avalanche in 2023 in a minor-league swap.
With four goals and 12 points in 87 career big-league appearances, the 6’1″ winger is little more than a fourth-line fill-in option. With the Rangers gearing up for a three-game California road trip, his recall only signals the club wants to carry a second extra forward for depth.
While he’s coming off a career-high 19 goals and 36 points in the minors last year, Blidh’s only managed a 3-4–7 scoring line in 32 games for Hartford in 2025-26.
Latest On Artemi Panarin, Rangers Retool
Mirroring a similar action they took almost eight years ago, the New York Rangers released a public statement — a letter — to fans and the media announcing the club would chart a new direction for its competitive future, embracing a “retool” of its roster as the best path back to legitimate Stanley Cup contention.
While no transactions have yet been made to kick off this “retool,” (outside of a brief recall of defenseman Connor Mackey) it’s likely that we’ll see several made as we get closer to the NHL’s trade deadline on March 6.
In the aftermath of the Rangers’ letter, two players have emerged as the most likely candidates to be traded by the team before the deadline: pending UFAs Artemi Panarin and Carson Soucy.
Soucy’s situation is more straightforward. He’s an established defensive defenseman with over 400 games of NHL experience. The Rangers should have no issue fielding offers for Soucy, even if they have to navigate a $3.25MM AAV contract that contains a 12-team no-trade list. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh wrote Friday that the Rangers “should be able to fetch at least a mid-round pick” in any Soucy deal.
Panarin’s situation is significantly more complicated. First and foremost, he has a full no-move clause, meaning he’ll need to sign off on any deal before he can be traded. 
Panarin was asked about the Rangers’ new direction after the team’s victory over the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday, and he said “I’m still confused, but the GM decided to go in a different direction. I’m OK with that.” Panarin was asked more specifically about his no-move clause, but he declined to address that specific element of the situation.
The Rangers have made it clear to Panarin, per multiple reports, that he will not be offered a contract extension with the club. So, as long as he is willing to waive his no-move clause to go somewhere, he’s a near-certainty to be moved at some point before the deadline.
Parsing together where he might actually be dealt is the more difficult part of the equation, largely because it’s so dependent on Panarin’s preferences. For example, he’d be within his rights to only accept a trade to a single destination, if he finds he has his heart set on playing for one specific team. There is some precedent for such a scenario, such as when Taylor Hall used his contractual rights in 2021 to steer the Buffalo Sabres into trading him to the Boston Bruins.
There’s been no indication, at this point, that Panarin is going to take up that approach, and it could be equally likely that he provides the Rangers with a curated list of teams he’d accept being dealt to. There’s even a possibility — however remote — that Panarin declines to waive his no-move clause at all.
What the Rangers might receive in return appears, in many ways, dependent on Panarin’s decisions in this process. If he allows for a wide range of potential destinations, the Rangers could create sufficient leverage in trade talks to generate a significant return. If Panarin only accepts a deal to one team, New York would naturally have far less leverage in trade talks, and the return could subsequently be lighter than anticipated.
Looking back to the Hall example, the Sabres’ return for their star winger, a recent Hart Trophy winner, was widely considered “underwhelming” at the time. In exchange for Hall, the Sabres were only able to net a second-round pick and Anders Bjork, in large part due to being forced into exclusive negotiations with the Bruins.
While there’s been no indication that Panarin has a specific destination in mind the way Hall did, the precedent is worth looking back at, as it illustrates just how much control Panarin has over the process.
New York recently communicated to Panarin, their star forward of the 2020’s, that he would not be offered a contract extension. As a result, he may have a limited appetite to assist the Rangers and provide them with a wide range of teams he’d accept a trade to.
Beyond Panarin, the Rangers do have a few other trade candidates to consider, though the key ones are not pending UFAs like Panarin and Soucy.
The Athletic’s Vince Z. Mercogliano wrote yesterday that center Vincent Trocheck is “widely considered” the Rangers’ most valuable trade asset, and the 32-year-old could be the top pivot available in an extremely limited in-season trade market at the position. He could be of immense interest to center-needy contending teams such as the Minnesota Wild.
In addition to Trocheck, Mercogliano also named defenseman Braden Schneider, who is a pending RFA, as a key trade candidate. Since New York has right-shot blueliners Adam Fox and Will Borgen each signed to long-term deals, they could deal from a position of strength with Schneider. Trading the 2020 first-rounder would give the Rangers’ retool a significant boost, as he’s likely to command a strong return as a coveted young, sizeable right-shot defenseman.
But while the Rangers could conceivably wait until the offseason to deal Trocheck or Schneider, they don’t have the privilege of that kind of timeline with Panarin or Soucy. As a result, the Rangers’ retool could begin in earnest sooner rather than later.
Photos courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Rangers Reassign Connor Mackey
1/17: The Rangers reassigned Mackey to the minor leagues after he served as a healthy scratch in Saturday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
1/16: According to a team announcement, the New York Rangers have recalled defenseman Connor Mackey from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. The reasoning behind Mackey’s recall is that defenseman Carson Soucy will miss tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers due to personal reasons.
Today’s transaction makes the fourth recall of the year for Mackey. The 29-year-old defenseman is in his third year with the organization and in the final year of a two-year, $1.55MM contract.
Despite being recalled on multiple occasions, Mackey has yet to play for the Rangers this season. Up to this point, since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, Mackey has gone scoreless in three games with New York, averaging 16:14 of ice time per game. The Rangers have six other healthy defensemen on the roster, so Mackey isn’t expected to add to those totals.
He has spent most of his time with the organization playing with AHL Hartford. Providing quality hard-nosed two-way play, Mackey has scored 10 goals and 42 points in 142 games with the Wolf Pack, accruing 238 PIMs in the process.
Meanwhile, Soucy will miss his fifth game this season. The 31-year-old blue liner has appeared in 44 games with New York this season, scoring three goals and eight points while averaging 17:18 of ice time. He has provided quality play on the defensive side of the puck, averaging a 93.5% on-ice SV% at even strength.
There is an indication that Soucy is in his final few weeks with the Rangers. Earlier today, General Manager Chris Drury penned a letter to fans, indicating that the team would punt on the 2025-26 campaign to retool for the future success of the franchise. Being a pending unrestricted free agent, Soucy would be an ideal trade candidate leading up to the deadline, should New York find any suitors for his services.
Bulk Of Rangers Core Wants To Stay Despite Retool
Today’s letter from the Rangers and subsequent reporting indicated that some veterans will be on the move, winger Artemi Panarin among them. But at first glance, it doesn’t appear as if some of their other notable veterans could be in play on the trade front. Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that five members of their veteran core – goalie Igor Shesterkin, defensemen Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov, and centers J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad – all spoke with management today and indicated a desire to remain with the team. All five players are signed through at least the 2028-29 and have no-move clauses in their respective contracts so it’s unlikely that New York will be making multiple moves of significance before the March 6th trade deadline.
New York Rangers Announce Retool
Similar to Jeff Gorton nearly seven years ago, current General Manager Chris Drury wrote a letter to New York Rangers fans, stating that the team would undergo a retool this season.
In the letter, Drury said, “This will not be a rebuild. This will be a retool built around our core players and prospects.” Drury went on to acknowledge that the fans should expect some trades or departures via free agency, saying, “That may mean saying goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years.”
The news was largely expected. Despite wanting to compete for a playoff spot this season, the Rangers are in last place in the Eastern Conference by a three-point margin and are tied for the most games played. Their -21 goal differential is also the worst in the Conference.
After losing defenseman Adam Fox and netminder Igor Shesterkin to injury in early January, there was little hope that New York would be able to climb out of the hole. Still, instead of re-shaping the entire roster, Drury specified a retool, which indicates that the team may only move out expiring assets and reassess next summer.
Regardless, we know of at least one player who won’t finish the 2025-26 season with the Rangers. Shortly after the announcement from New York, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Drury met with Artemi Panarin, telling him that the team would not be extending him an extension offer, and they would like to move him to a team where he could win the Stanley Cup or sign long-term.
Earlier this week, we assessed some of the hypothetical landing spots for Panarin that were provided by Friedman, namely the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, and Washington Capitals. Determining Panarin’s trade value is challenging due to the absence of recent comparables for a rental of his significance.
Furthermore, there’s no questioning that Panarin’s market value dipped from today’s news. Publicly, the Rangers remained interested in extending Panarin beyond the 2025-26 campaign. However, considering his full no-movement clause, New York will allow Panarin to pick his next destination, which will likely diminish their potential return.
Meanwhile, the Rangers don’t have many additional expiring assets that will be of much value on the trade market. Joining Panarin as pending unrestricted free agents are Jonny Brodzinski, Conor Sheary, and Carson Soucy. Technically, Jonathan Quick could also be a trade candidate, but the veteran netminder has been pretty rigid in his ‘Rangers or retirement’ attitude.
Assuming Drury waits until the offseason to consider trading the trickier contracts of Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere, Vincent Trocheck, etc, there are a few more veterans he may attempt to move this season.
Veterans like Taylor Raddysh, Sam Carrick, and Urho Vaakanainen are only signed through the 2026-27 season, potentially giving the Rangers a few more assets to move. At any rate, the Rangers now have the biggest fish leading up to the March 6th trade deadline.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.
Assessing Potential Landing Spots For Artemi Panarin
On the heels of a 2-6-2 record over their last 10 games, speculation has begun building that the New York Rangers will eventually trade winger Artemi Panarin ahead of the trade deadline. In his recent episode of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman linked a few teams to the pending unrestricted free agent.
Though much of it was speculation, Friedman listed the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, and Washington Capitals as potential landing spots for the four-time All-Star. For each of the four teams and additional options, a significant effort would be required to acquire Panarin.
For starters, Panarin has the seventh-highest cap hit in the league with an $11.64MM mark. However, he’s only earning an $8MM salary this season, meaning he’s somewhat more palatable in terms of actual dollars. Still, few teams would be able to absorb that cap hit outright.
Additionally, Panarin has a full no-movement clause in his contract. That means that even if the Rangers find an acceptable offer, one that balances the cap hit of all parties involved, Panarin would still need to sign off on the deal. If he decides he’d like to remain in New York to finish the season and pursue other options next summer, the Rangers won’t have any options and could conceivably lose him for nothing.
Lastly, there are no recent comparables to Panarin’s situation, especially if the acquiring team doesn’t quickly pursue a contract extension. Last season, winger Mikko Rantanen was traded twice and eventually signed an extension with the Dallas Stars after failing to gain traction with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Still, for the sake of argument, let’s run with the idea that a team could theoretically clear all the hurdles needed to acquire Panarin. His value to a potential team couldn’t be clearer, as he’s scored 202 goals and 600 points in 476 games throughout the duration of his contract with the Rangers, already climbing to ninth all-time on the franchise leaderboards.
Friedman thoroughly explained his reasoning behind Colorado, sharing that the Avalanche offered Panarin a four-year, $52MM ($13MM AAV) contract back in 2019. Although the Avalanche were ready to give Panarin nearly 16% of their available dollars at the time, they had not yet signed Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar to their high-priced extensions. Much has changed for Colorado since then.
In Florida, the only way the Panthers would be able to acquire Panarin without moving heaven and earth would be if the team were certain that Aleksander Barkov would not return for the playoffs this season. In an odd twist, that’s almost an argument as to why the Panthers shouldn’t pursue Panarin as a rental, given their chances of competing for a third consecutive Stanley Cup title without their captain.
Lastly, the connection to Minnesota and Washington is clear. Either destination would allow Panarin to play with another high-level countryman in Kirill Kaprizov or Alex Ovechkin. It’s important to remember that although the Rangers may not be inclined to move Panarin to a Metropolitan Division rival, they recently traded K’Andre Miller to the Hurricanes last summer.
Regardless, as much fun as it is to speculate on where Panarin could end up, there’s no guarantee he’ll even leave New York. However, given the complex nature of manufacturing a Panarin trade, the Rangers will have to make a decision sooner rather than later.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.