The New York Rangers’ season just took a turn for the worse with injuries to Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, leaving the already struggling team looking left and right for respite. The Rangers’ forgettable season has positioned them in the lower rungs of the Metropolitan Division with little hope for improvement.
The injury woes have far-reaching repercussions for the team’s veterans, including standout forward Artemi Panarin, who has been at the center of trade rumors for a while now.
New York Rangers-Artemi Panarin Discourse Could Witness a New Development
The Utah Mammoth’s 3-2 overtime win over the Rangers has just bolstered the need for the team to incorporate upgrades. Chris Drury has been seeking to bring in reinforcements to support the Rangers, who have struggled to salvage this season and now must drastically improve their game to secure a playoff berth.
Writing for The Athletic, Vincent Z. Mercogliano stated that Drury is in contention for the Vancouver Canucks’ Kiefer Sherwood to give the Rangers’ underwhelming offense a much-needed boost. The price that Vancouver, another team that has its own set of struggles to deal with this season, will seek in return for Sherwood is expected to be high, but Drury is in dire need of help on the offensive front.
“The asking price is believed to be a first-round pick and possibly more for the 30-year-old. The acquisition cost is prohibitive for the Rangers, but team president Chris Drury’s focus has been on netting a top-nine forward to bolster an offense that ranks among the lowest-scoring in the NHL,” Mercogliano explained in his article.Â
Moreover, the Rangers might be willing to add some young energy to their roster. Drury could trade veterans to that end. Artemi Panarin did not give the Rangers a hometown discount and has lately been linked with multiple teams, including Central Division stars, the Colorado Avalanche.
Contract extension talks between the Rangers and Panarin have not made much progress to begin with, and now, with the team’s intention to bring in younger players, Panarin’s time with the team may truly come to an end. “Extension talks never got very far with the pending unrestricted free agent, according to a person familiar with negotiations — a reality Panarin himself seemed to acknowledge in a November interview with The Athletic — creating the expectation that New York will approach the 34-year-old winger to discuss waiving his no-movement clause if the season slips out of reach,” Mercogliano noted.
Of course, how the rest of the season pans out is of primary importance here. Panarin is inching towards the end of his contract, and several teams are bound to be interested in him. What the future holds for the veteran Rangers star remains to be seen.
