The Latest York Rangers got here into the 2024-25 season as one in every of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They’d fall well in need of expectations, missing the playoffs altogether. Latest head coach Mike Sullivan believes the team has the talent to compete this yr. There may be a difference between remarks made at an introductory press conference and reality. The team regressed heavily, but did have a solid summer in NHL Free Agency. Regardless, they are going to have one query that may linger over the team heading into 2025-26.
In 2023-24, the Rangers were the highest team within the NHL within the regular season. The club went 55-23-4, securing the President’s Trophy. The season would end in disappointing fashion, with the Blueshirts falling to the Panthers in six games within the Eastern Conference Final. The team scored well in 2023-24, putting up 282 goals, which was sixth within the NHL. In 2024-25, it might be just 254 goals, twelfth within the NHL.
There have been regression in other areas as well. The team was third within the NHL on the ability play in 2023-24, but would drop to twenty eighth of their next campaign. The penalty kill went from third to eleventh. Their conceded goals per game went from seventh to nineteenth. Players also saw some major declines. Vincent Trocheck compiled 77 points in 2023-24 and dropped to 59 the subsequent season. The main drop off was Artemi Panarin. He lit the lamp 49 times while adding 71 helpers in 2023-24. This may drop to only 37 goals and 52 assists the subsequent yr. Panarin is scheduled to be a free agent in the summertime of 2026, however the Rangers needed to handle the situation this summer.
The Rangers haven’t addressed Artemi Panarin
The Breadman was undrafted out of Russia, playing within the KHL for much of the early a part of his profession. He joined the KHL in 2008-09 and would play there through the 2014-15 season. Panarin would then sign a two-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks afterwards. He played 80 games in 2015-16 with 30 goals and 47 assists, winning the Calder Trophy while forming fast chemistry with Patrick Kane. The subsequent campaign, he continued to provide with lighting the lamp 31 times with 43 helpers. He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the summertime of 2017, after which he signed in free agency with the Rangers in the summertime of 2019.
Panarin has been a consistent scoring threat in his time within the NHL. In his 752 games, he has found the back of the online 302 times while adding 568 assists. That is nice for 870 points in only 752 games, or 1.16 points per game. That places him tied for twentieth all-time, just fractions of a degree behind the good Steve Yzerman.
The team has two options with Panarin, as they do with most players: trade him or work on an extension. The Russian winger is within the last yr of a contract that may pay him $11.64 million this upcoming yr. Paying him will likely require a long-term deal that is not going to be friendly towards the longer term salary cap situation, possibly north of $10 million. This may be for a player potentially on the decline. Still, if the team thinks that last season was an aberration, and he’ll rebound in 2025-26 and beyond, this just isn’t a foul idea.
Regardless, paying that much to any player ties up significant cap space. The opposite option is to trade him while he still has value. Because the season progresses, the worth of Panarin could decline, especially if he continues not to place up the identical numbers. Along with his contract expiring, unless a team can work a brand new deal, this may be nothing greater than a rental player, which could significantly decrease his value.
The deadline for a choice is quickly approaching. The franchise does have strong tools to compete, but when the regressions proceed for a lot of their key players, selling is one of the best case to go.
Could the Rangers land Connor McDavid?
One of the best explanation for not addressing the Panarin situation is the notion that they may land Connor McDavid and wish to attend to see how that situation plays out. While Panarin is twentieth all-time in points per game, McDavid is third. He has scored 1.52 points per game, only behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Panarin will turn 34 years old in the beginning of the season, while McDavid shall be turning 29 and is one of the best player on the planet.
If McDavid makes it to free agency, the Rangers shall be one in every of many teams in contention for his services. He shall be a significant upgrade long-term over Panarin, but will cost more. There may be also little probability of the team having each players on the roster. Considering this notion, waiting on Panarin becomes less of an option. If the 2026 free agency period comes, and McDavid signs elsewhere, Panarin could easily move on as well, leaving the Rangers with nothing. Trading Panarin now to make the run at McDavid allows them to get value and open up cap space for the longer term. It could backfire, especially if McDavid re-signs with the Oilers or with one other team. Still, not less than Latest York would have gotten value for his or her top player. The Rangers’ offseason was solid, but failing to handle the Panarin situation — a technique or one other — was a miss.