The New York Rangers have been mired in a horrible season. This resulted in Chris Drury sending a letter to fans, preparing them for a re-tool. Part of that retool may be the future of Artemi Panarin. It had been previously rumored that the Rangers would not be extending Panarin. Now, head coach Mike Sullivan has explained why.
“It boils down to, I think, big picture decision making. I think this is obviously a discussion that probably predated me…As far as looking at the core group and where they’re at and where potentially they’re going to go moving forward, every organization goes through those decisions. I don’t think you make those decisions on a whim. There’s a lot of smart people in this league and so those conversations are had, they’re ongoing conversations. Big picture… There’s always a big picture that has to be kept in mind when making organizational-type decisions, and I think that this was one of them,” Sullivan said to the media, according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post.
It was a bombshell when it came out that the Rangers would be letting Panarin walk. He has found the back of the net 18 times, while having a team-leading 36 assists. That is good for a team-high 54 points. The Breadman joined the NHL out of the KHL in 2015-16 with the Chicago Blackhawks. He spent two seasons there before two years with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Panarin is now in his seventh season with the Rangers, placing him in the final year of his seven-year contract.
With the realization that the Rangers have been public about the fact that they will not be bringing back Panarin, he will be a hot commodity at the trade deadline. His value could be determined by whether the star forward can have a contract extension in place. Bringing him in for a rental will be expensive, but the price will go up if the future of Panarin is secured with his new team.
The Rangers are now 21-22-6 on the season, which places them in last place in the Eastern Conference. They return to the ice, currently with Panarin, on Monday night, visiting the Anaheim Ducks.
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