One of the greatest myths in all of sports is that you can never rebuild New York, which brings with it the Rangers’ desires to win now. That the fans won’t let this happen. New York fans can be irrational and emotional at times, but they are also smart and connected to their teams. All they want to know is if their team is doing enough to win a championship. This has been a major complaint in the current period, and how Rangers win now depends on what to do with Artemi Panarin.
Rangers fans showed patience when Jeff Gorton sent a letter to the fans with the announcement that they were going to rebuild. Fans understood that it would take some time to become a contender again and were okay with it, as the franchise was transparent and open about their intentions.
I’m not going to open old wounds and explain how the Rangers successfully rebuilt it and it became a new tool in no time. That has been discussed and there is no reason to discuss it again.
Fast forward to the present and it appears that the front office has not learned from the mistakes of the past and they are faced with a real problem that will arise after 2025. While the Rangers may have a ton of cap space before the summer of 2026, even if hopes of a big-ticket free agent are dashed in front of Drury and company, the Rangers still face a big question.
What to do with Artemi Panarin?
Chris Drury has made a series of moves over the past 18 months that could indicate he wants Rangers to win now, rather than looking to the future. Adding JT Miller, re-signing Igor Shesterkin to a huge extension, bringing in Vincent Trocheck, not shipping Mika Zibanejad and extending Adam Fox to a huge extension are all signals that the GM wants to compete for a Cup now instead of waiting.
With Miller, Trocheck and Zibanejad all over the age of 30 and some of their better hockey players behind them, the battle for the Rangers isn’t as wide open as most fans would like. Not to mention Fox is 27 and coming off a knee injury that seriously slowed him down last season, and Shesterkin will be 30 right when 2025 comes to a close. Not to mention the Rangers prize in free agency for Vlad Gavrikov, who also turns 30 right before Thanksgiving.
What does all this have to do with Panarin?
We know that Drury went to Panarin’s camp and asked them to make a deal similar to Anze Kopitar’s friendly deal, which gave the Kings flexibility to add to the roster. Panarin’s camp wasn’t interested in a lower AAV, but now that’s all moot given that none of the prized free agents Drury would have liked to work with Panarin are all off the market.
Meanwhile, the 2025 campaign has not yet started in the way Panarin, the Rangers or the fans would like to see. It’s still a fact that this team with Panarin on the roster is much better and closer to a Cup contender than without him, which is the center of this conundrum. Expand Panarin and keep the window open, or trade him for futures or younger NHL players with potential.
Extending Panarin to a three-year deal with an AAV of around $11.5-$12 million per year should be something palatable for both parties. Especially considering the Rangers will have over $20 million in cap space to play with this summer. If winning is truly what Chris Drury and the New York Rangers are all about, then locking up their superstar is a move that moves in that direction and helps keep a championship window open for New York.
It’s hard to justify, as a GM, trading a player who routinely scores 30 goals and over 100 points per year as a move that will make the team better, when you’ve already stated that you’re trying to win at this point. But the real question is when both Drury and Mike Sullivan see this team as a real Cup contender. That drives their every move.
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