With the Olympic trade freeze beckoning on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 3 PM ET, all eyes were on which contender would push all their chips in on an Artemi Panarin trade.
While several insiders reported strong interest from the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, and the Dallas Stars, one Western Conference outfit took it upon themselves to see who would blink first in the Panarin sweepstakes.
Los Angeles Kings’ Artemi Panarin Trade Grabs the Headlines
The New York Rangers were rumored to be holding strong over a healthy return on a trade for Panarin, given the fact that several teams considered themselves to be in the running to go all the way in the playoffs this year.
The addition of Panarin, a bonafide scorer, would no doubt have given a jolt to any of the aforementioned contenders. When you consider the slight little wrinkle that Panarin also had some power over his next move, given his No-Movement Clause, the Panarin trade sweepstakes became the most talked-about storyline ahead of the Olympic trade freeze.
As it turns out, all the Los Angeles Kings had to give up was a conditional third-round draft pick and prospect Liam Greentree to settle the move.
Panarin suited up for 482 career games with the NY Rangers and racked up 607 career points, good enough for ninth in franchise history. He’s also the franchise leader in points per game (1.26). When all is said and done, Panarin will go down as a true-blue Rangers icon, but now is clearly the time for a new chapter as the Russian gamechanger looks to make his mark in the City of Fallen Angels.
The consensus among Rangers fans on social media is that NYR GM Chris Drury failed to get enough of a return for Panarin, who is a top-of-the-line winger more than capable of supercharging the Kings’ power play.
However, it’s pertinent to note that the Rangers already made their peace with being in sell mode with that infamous letter a few weeks ago.
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For now, it appears the Rangers are more than willing to stock up on whatever assets they will accrue in shipping out a veteran who was in need of a contract extension. At the time of writing, it remains to be seen if the Kings will put an extension on the table.
This much is for certain: Panarin will now likely become the Kings’ top scorer. While they are an average team at the moment, there appears to be some semblance of a plan to take on a player who’s on the lookout for a contract extension.
Editor’s note: Panarin has since signed a two-year, $22 million extension with the LA Kings.
