‘They didn’t want me’: Artemi Panarin on departure from Rangers
Not all relationships are meant to last. When two parties seem to be headed in different directions, the best thing to do is usually part ways.
Sports often give us examples of this phenomenon, and in the NHL this season, there’s perhaps been no better example of it than the relationship between Artemi Panarin and the New York Rangers.
When Rangers general manager Chris Drury released a letter to fans in mid-January announcing the team’s intention to “retool” and “focus on obtaining young players, draft picks, and cap space”, it quickly became pretty clear that a player like Panarin no longer fit in their plans.
At that point, New York was scuffling through a disappointing season, staring down the prospect of having to give up the dream of making the playoffs and instead prioritize setting themselves up for the future. Panarin, 34, was the team’s best forward, but he was likely entering the twilight of his career and wouldn’t want to wait through a rebuild, or “retool” as it were. Crucially, the Russian national was also in the final season of his seven-year, $81.5 million contract, and would require a brand new, big-money extension.
Eventually, the Rangers dealt Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings in early February for forward prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round draft pick. The Kings immediately signed Panarin to a two-year, $22 million extension.
Panarin and the Kings are currently on an east-coast road trip, and are set to visit the Rangers on Monday. With the Kings already in the area to face the New York Islanders on Friday, Panarin was asked if he considered staying in New York when he discovered Los Angeles would offer just a two-year extension upon acquiring him.
“They didn’t want me” he said.
Panarin was asked if he circled back to the Rangers when LA only offered a two-year extension. “They didn’t want me,” he said.
While it may be true that the Rangers no longer wanted Panarin, it likely had more to do with them, not him. The veteran is having another star-level season, with 21 goals and 44 assists for 65 points in 60 games.