Ten potential Artemi Panarin destinations, from top-of-league teams to long shots

ANAHEIM — Artemi Panarin’s time with the New York Rangers is coming to a close. Signed in summer 2019 to a seven-year contract carrying an $11.64 million average annual value, the winger has led the Rangers in scoring each year of his contract. He likely would again this year, but president and general manager Chris Drury told him Friday that the team will not offer him a contract extension. Instead, it will try to find a fit for him on the trade market.

The 34-year-old winger has total control of his situation with a full no-movement clause. The team will have to work with him to pick a destination. If Panarin will only waive for one or two places, it could significantly lower his trade value. If he’s open to more, the Rangers will likely do better on a return.

Panarin’s cap hit is another obstacle. New York can and likely will retain half, but many contenders would still struggle to fit $5.82 million onto their books. Whether he wants to negotiate an extension as part of a trade or is willing to finish the season as a rental will be another aspect of his situation to monitor.

Speaking after the Rangers’ win Saturday against the Flyers, Panarin said: “I’m still confused, but the GM decided to go in a different direction. I’m OK with that. I’m a Ranger player right now, so I’ll play every game 100 percent.”

The most applicable comps for a potential Panarin deal are Brad Marchand, who was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Florida Panthers last year for a conditional pick that became a first-rounder, and Claude Giroux, who went from the Philadelphia Flyers to Florida in 2022 in exchange for forward prospect Owen Tippett, plus first- and third-round picks. Giroux had a no-movement clause allowing him to essentially pick his destination. Marchand was injured at the time of his trade, likely lowering his value, and Boston wanted to do right by him by sending him to his preferred destination, even though he didn’t have a no-movement clause. The Bruins received a second-round pick that became a first when Florida reached the conference final.

Panarin’s preferred landing spots aren’t yet public, but we’ve put together some potential fits. Below, we’ve examined the pros and cons of each situation, as well as what they have to offer.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche were in contention to land Panarin during 2019 free agency, and they have had internal discussions about pursuing him again at the deadline, per a league source. They have been the best team in the league to start the season. If Panarin wants a prime chance to win, Colorado makes sense, from his perspective.

If the Avalanche want Panarin, they have a fairly straightforward path to creating cap space: including Ross Colton in the deal. Colton is a middle-six winger with another year of term at $4 million AAV, and he has a 40-point season to his name. The 29-year-old has a 12-team no-trade list, but he’s from New Jersey, so there’s a decent chance New York isn’t on it.

The bigger question is whether the Avalanche want to use their limited trade chips on Panarin. They could look to upgrade their third-line center position behind Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson. But if center prices are sky-high, as it looks like they might be, general manager Chris MacFarland might prefer keeping his center group as is and pursuing Panarin, which would have a trickle-down effect among the forward group and allow third-line center Jack Drury (Chris’ nephew) to play with better wings. Panarin would also likely give the Avalanche a boost on the power play, their only shortcoming as a team this season.

Colorado isn’t hurting for offense — it is first in goals per game by a mile — and Panarin’s inconsistent playoff track record could be a reason for concern. In Colorado, though, he would not be the top offensive option, meaning he would either get the benefit of playing with Nathan MacKinnon or facing easier defensive opponents.

Colorado has a weak prospect pool and limited NHL Draft capital (zero picks in the first three rounds this season), but it has its 2027 and 2028 firsts. Someone like Colton would also have value to the Rangers. He can slot in at center or wing and plays the hard-nosed style Drury likes.

Washington Capitals

The Caps are a popular pick for a couple of reasons, starting with their GM. Chris Patrick told reporters Friday that the team’s No. 1 deadline priority is a “higher-end, skilled winger.” The Rangers have the best one on the market.

Unlike many teams on this list, the Capitals have first-round picks at their disposal and ample cap room to fit Panarin, with PuckPedia projecting $12.78 million in deadline space. They also have five players on colleague Corey Pronman’s recent list of the top 137 players under the age of 23, plus a few mid-20s roster players who have been crowded out of prominent lineup spots: forwards Ethen Frank and Hendrix Lapierre and defenseman Declan Chisholm. Perhaps Drury would want to roll the dice on one of them.

A match makes sense, but only if Panarin has any interest in going to Washington. He would get to play with fellow high-profile Russian Alex Ovechkin, but we’ve heard they’re not close friends. It’s hard to say how much of a selling point that would be.

Florida Panthers

Florida is a popular pick among players with contractual control. Look no further than Giroux and Marchand.

The Panthers could have even more appeal to Panarin since he is close friends with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Plus, the back-to-back Cup champions could certainly use a spark; Florida is currently outside a playoff spot.

The salary cap would likely be the primary obstacle in a potential Panarin-Panthers deal. Florida is right up against it, and that’s with Aleksander Barkov on long-term injured reserve. They could move some money to fit Panarin’s cap hit in the regular season, with Evan Rodrigues ($3 million AAV through 2026-27) a possible candidate to get them part of the way there. But that would still leave them well over the cap if Barkov returns in the playoffs. Having their captain and Panarin in the lineup for a postseason game would be nearly impossible unless the Panthers scratch someone with a significant salary. (Under new collective bargaining agreement rules, a team’s 20-man lineup for individual games has to be under the salary cap.)

A Panarin trade might only make sense if Barkov is declared out for the season, and at that point, would Florida see it as worthwhile to make an all-in move? It wouldn’t make much sense unless Panarin agrees to an extension as part of the deal.

The primary concern on the Rangers’ end is whether the Panthers have much to offer. They don’t own a first-round pick in either of the next two drafts and didn’t have a single prospect on Pronman’s U23 list.

Dallas Stars

The Stars would have to send a small amount of salary back to make it work, but losing Tyler Seguin for the season to a right ACL tear and placing him on LTIR makes this doable. They are tied for the second-most points in the West behind Colorado and check the Cup contender box. Panarin would give Dallas a clear top-six upgrade, and it could experiment with him on a line alongside fellow star Mikko Rantanen.

The primary holdup is that Dallas could prefer to seek a defenseman. The Stars didn’t land Rasmus Andersson, though, so perhaps GM Jim Nill will pivot. The lack of cap space or a 2026 first-round pick means they probably won’t have room for two big moves. If Nill decides he still wants to focus on a right-handed defenseman, perhaps he will ask about New York’s Braden Schneider.

Carolina Hurricanes

Expect the Hurricanes to be in on Panarin — they’ve shown a recent willingness to go after stars, including when they briefly landed Rantanen — but their potential interest will matter only as much as Panarin is open to going there. Don’t forget the no-movement clause. If he is open to it, the team has intriguing pieces: all its first-round picks (plus an extra in 2028), ample cap space and plenty of boldness to go after a big name.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay probably has some appeal for Panarin, but multiple hurdles stand in the way. Cap space is a big one, with no way for the Lightning to fit him without shedding significant salary. They don’t have much to offer in return, with no first-round picks until 2028 and a prospect pool that ranks among the NHL’s worst.

We can’t completely rule out Tampa Bay because it seems like such a desirable destination, especially considering the existing Russian star power of Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy. GM Julien BriseBois always seems to be going for it, but this one feels like a long shot.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild have been a rumored Panarin destination, but they seem unlikely at this point. For one, center is their biggest need. Additionally, Panarin shares an agent (Paul Theofanous) with Wild star Kirill Kaprizov. Theofanous and Kaprizov negotiated a huge extension with Minnesota going into the season, and our Minnesota-based colleagues Michael Russo and Joe Smith wrote Monday: “We find it hard to believe the Wild are going to want to add another Theofanous client after he leveraged them into giving Kaprizov a record $136 million contract last September.”

Wild GM Bill Guerin presumably isn’t done adding after going all in for Quinn Hughes, so perhaps he would have an interest in Vincent Trocheck, given his team’s need up the middle.

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings have the cap space, young players and picks necessary to get a deal done, and Panarin already has a relationship with Patrick Kane. That might not be enough of a sell for him to waive his no-movement clause, though. Plus, Detroit might not view more of a perimeter winger as its biggest need.

Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas is another team that’s always sniffing around on big names, as it showed Saturday by acquiring Andersson. Like other clubs on this list, however, the Golden Knights face challenges in terms of cap space and available assets. They have $3.86 million to maneuver, according to PuckPedia, which wouldn’t be enough to fit Panarin, and they’ll have an even bigger crunch if William Karlsson or Brayden McNabb returns from LTIR during the regular season. They’re also without a 2026 or 2027 first-rounder and have a bottom-three prospect pool in the league, according to Pronman.

The Golden Knights have surprised all of us before with a big-swing move. Panarin might be too much — even for them — but we’ll throw them an honorable-mention nod.

New York Islanders

The Empire State rivals have made only three trades in their history, with the most recent coming in 2010 when the Rangers acquired defenseman Jyri Niemi from the Islanders in exchange for a sixth-round pick. But a trade of this magnitude is highly unlikely.

Even if the Rangers decided to overlook the rivalry, Panarin already said no to making Long Island his home when the Isles offered more money during his 2019 free-agent year.