Free agency 2026 could have just one or two big names, if at all
Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick on Monday morning. They asked about Pagnotta the UFA class of 2026 and or Artemi Panarin could be from the New York Rangers the last man standing will arrive on July 1.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
Scott Laughlin: “As we look ahead to unrestricted free agency next summer, many are wondering if unrestricted free agency is now officially dead. There’s still the Broodman, Artemi Panarin, who is still looking for a contract. He recently got the nice haircut, which didn’t leave much to the imagination, right David? It seems to have worked out better for the Broodman.”
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Panarin, who, despite the night, has achieved a higher points total here lately. But what do we think about Panarin here? Will he be the one shining star we’ll talk about on July 1? Or do you think there’s still a chance in the coming weeks, and dare we say even months ahead, that Rangers can get something done with him?’
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, I think, first of all, if he keeps this up, maybe the rest of the team should start shaving their heads too. He’s been in big plays the last five, six games, whatever they are, right? You’re okay with making yourself bleeped every now and then, and it’s paying off, and it’s working, and he’s doing well, so maybe that’ll have a trickle-down effect. But I think the Rangers still want to see what they have here.”
And it sounded like he was looking for a little extra term. But three years could be where the Rangers feel comfortable with three or four. I think he’s more in the range of the five, but in terms of their initial discussions. But I still think they want to continue to see where exactly they stand, what they have.
Spicy end to the match yesterday (Sunday), losing 2-1 to Detroit, with Quick involved everywhere. But I guess they still want to see if that energy will transfer in the first place? Will that help kind of energize this team and get it going? And if that’s the case, if they’re going to get on the heater and run over here, then I think it gives them a little bit more of an argument to try and keep a guy like Artemi Panarin in the fold for a while.
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You have Kempe, no more. He’s gone. But Alex Tuk is also at the top of the list. Nick Schmaltz. There are others about expiring deals – Boone Jennerwho is currently dealing with an injury. For example, there will be some quality pieces, but certainly not the star-studded affair we would have liked on July 1st.
And I wonder, as the seasons go on here and as things evolve, this will become more of a trend because so many teams have so much more cap space to play with. Are we now looking at the trading market as an area where we will again see those big blockbuster-like moves that we have seen in recent years? Dating back to a while back when you saw the future Hall of Famer for the future Hall of Famer and stuff like that.
Teams looking to shake things up may have to get a little more aggressive on the trade market, because some of what they would like to do through free agency simply won’t be available to them. So that will be interesting.
I’m sure there are teams watching what the Rangers do with Panarin, but I still think the Rangers are in a wait-and-see mode when it comes to how their season will go.”
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