Colin Stephenson: Artemi Panarin holds all the cards in a trade, making it tough for GM Chris Drury
Rangers' Artemi Panarin skates against the Utah Mammoth in the third period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 5, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — The NHL’s Olympic break roster freeze begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday, meaning the Rangers and Artemi Panarin have until then to complete his trade to his next team if they want to resolve the matter before the Olympic hockey tournament begins next week.
Otherwise, this awkward waiting will go on for another three weeks — or more. The roster freeze ends Feb. 22, and the NHL’s trade deadline is March 6.
It’s been nearly three weeks since GM Chris Drury met with Panarin and informed him he would be traded, and a week since the team first sat him for a game on Long Island last Wednesday.
And it feels like no other story matters, and no other meaningful business can get done until this is over with.
To recap, Panarin, who still leads the Rangers in scoring this season (and has for each of the previous six seasons), holds all the cards in this situation because he has a full no-move clause in his contract. So offloading him as the Blueshirts start their “retool’’ is more complicated than just shipping him out to whoever offers the best deal.
Since Panarin is going to have to OK whatever team the Rangers do make a deal with, that leaves Drury with little or no leverage in negotiating with potential trade partners. The Rangers don’t figure to get back anything close to what the 34-year-old Russian, who has 321 goals and 927 points in 804 games, would actually be worth.
Washington, Detroit, San Jose, Florida, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Los Angeles and Dallas have all been mentioned as possible landing spots for him. Some of those teams are interested in signing him to a contract extension, and some would prefer bringing him aboard as a rental for the rest of the season.
Would Panarin, who is in the last year of the seven-year, $81.5 million contract he signed with the Rangers as a free agent in 2019, accept a trade without an extension, and then be a free agent July 1?
Early on it was presumed Panarin’s most likely preferred destination would be Florida, where he would reunite with his pal and former Columbus Blue Jackets teammate Sergei Bobrovsky. But the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions are nine points out of a playoff spot right now and in danger of missing the postseason. Would he go there and take a chance on missing the playoffs?
Panarin alone will decide that. Meanwhile, all the Rangers can do is wait. They’re in a quiet spot in their schedule, where they last played on Saturday in Pittsburgh and don’t play again until Thursday, when they host Carolina in their final game before the Olympic break begins. So they’re in the rare position of having three consecutive days of practice — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — and trying to go on with their regular lives as best they can without their top offensive player.
“We’re going to work hard every day,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’re going to try to continue to improve and get better. You know, this unique circumstance is providing opportunities for some guys. They need to look at that to maximize that opportunity through performance, and we will control what we can as a group.’’
Sullivan said he’s been in contact with Panarin, and the two spoke on Monday. Panarin is skating on his own, he said, and “he’s good.’’
The team, meanwhile, has lost all three games without Panarin, and has been outshot in each. Sullivan was asked if he thinks Panarin’s absence has been weighing on the team.
“I’d probably be lying to you if I said it doesn’t have an impact,’’ he said. “These guys are human beings. And of course, it does. The uncertainty is not easy. And the other aspect of it is that you know these guys, they build relationships with one another. You care about each other and are friends. And so, you know, the business side of the game sometimes can be the most difficult. We all understand it. It’s what we sign up for . . . But it doesn’t necessarily make it easy. That’s just the reality of it.’’
He praised the players for being able to “compartmentalize,’’ and focus on the game at hand. But surely, the sooner the trade is made, the better it will be for the players and everyone else. Then, at least, everyone can finally move on.
Notes & quotes: With three days of practice, Sullivan gave the day off to his heavy-minutes players Tuesday. Five of the top six forwards (all except rookie Gabe Perreault), the top three defensemen (Vladislav Gavrikov, Braden Schneider, Will Borgen) and goalie Jonathan Quick did not practice . . . The AHL announced it has added forward Hartford forward Brendan Brisson to its All-Star Classic as a replacement for Perreault.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
