The Artemi Panarin saga is over as the New York Rangers have traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick.
Conditions for the choice for the third round to #NYR in the Artemi Panarin trade:
If the #LAKingen If you win a playoff round this year, it becomes a 2nd rounder
If the #LAKingen If they win two playoff rounds this year, they’ll also get a 2028 fourth-round pick
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 4, 2026
The Rangers will retain 50 percent of Panarin’s salary ($8 million). His maximum hit was $11,642,857.
Shortly after the trade, the 34-year-old Panarin signed a two-year contract extension with the Kings for $22 million, a cap hit of $11 million.
The Kings have acquired Artemi Panarin for Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick, a league source confirmed. @emilymkaplan And @AdamSchefter were first.
The Kings were ultimately the team Panarin’s camp wanted to go to, or so I’m told. No chance of a bidding war.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) February 4, 2026
Greentree was drafted 26th overall by the Kings in the first round of the 2024 draft. In 34 games with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, the 6′ 3″ forward has 23 goals and 22 assists.
Many teams were involved in the process, including the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken and Utah Mammoth. There were others who inquired but had no chance to trade for him as the player had a no-move clause and controlled where he wanted to go.
There was a lot of buzz surrounding Artemi Panarin when he was held out of the lineup for trade-related reasons last week ahead of a home-and-home series with the New York Islanders. The Rangers announced that he would be out of the lineup for roster-related reasons until the Olympic Roster Freeze on Wednesday, February 4. It was the goal on the player and team side to get this done before the Roster Freeze.
However, this was a complicated handling of layers. The Rangers knew, going back to last summer, that Panarin wanted to test free agency in the summer of 2026. While they tried to negotiate a deal, they didn’t want to rush into an extension with a 34-year-old player looking for a four- or five-year contract at his current AAV of $11.7 million. The Rangers didn’t want that.
We know the Rangers had high hopes of making the playoffs this season. But given his status as an impending unrestricted free agent, how the season played out would determine everything for Panarin. When GM Chris Drury sent the letter informing fans of a retool with fan favorites on the road, the writing was on the wall for a Panarin trade.
Since joining the New York Rangers in July 2019, Artemi Panarin has recorded 607 points (205 goals and 402 assists) in 482 games with the franchise. He averaged 1.26 points per game and recorded one final assist in a 4-3 comeback win over the Boston Bruins on the ice of Madison Square Garden.
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