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A month from now, the Rangers will play their final game before the Olympic break and three of their players — J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck for the United States and Mika Zibanejad for Sweden — will leave for the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
Artemi Panarin won’t be going to the Olympics. Nor will Rangers teammates Igor Shesterkin and Vladislav Gavrikov. They are Russian, and Russia currently is not allowed to participate in international sports competitions because of its war with Ukraine.
Panarin said that makes him sad.
“I think it’s not right,’’ he told Newsday on Sunday. “Everyone in hockey wants Russia back in the international championships. Every player wants that. No one is against it. So I think it’s a mistake.’’
Panarin didn’t want to think about the reasons or the politics of why Russian athletes are being excluded from world events.
“I don’t want to comment on that,’’ he said, adding that his feelings are strictly those of a player who just wants to play.
“Players want to be part of it,’’ he said.
But he won’t be. And if things don’t improve for the Rangers, he might not be going to the NHL playoffs, either.
Going into Monday night’s game at Madison Square Garden against the Utah Mammoth, the Rangers were 20-18-5 and outside of a playoff spot in a tightly packed Eastern Conference. It was the first of 14 games for the Blueshirts before the Olympic break. After the Olympics, they’ll have four games before the NHL’s March 6 trade deadline.
Whether the Rangers are buyers or sellers at the deadline largely will be determined by what they do in the games leading up to the break. If they do well, perhaps general manager Chris Drury will work to bring in some scoring help. If they don’t, maybe he will punt on the season and look to trade some veterans for future assets.
Panarin, 34, is in the final year of the seven-year, $81.5 million contract he signed as a free agent in the summer of 2019. If the Rangers are sellers, he might be a guy they would want to move to a contender.
For the Rangers to be able to trade him, Panarin would have to agree to waive his full no-move clause. It doesn’t sound as if he’d be eager to do that.
When it was mentioned to him that his name has been floated in speculation about what the Rangers might do at the deadline, his jaw stiffened and his eyes looked almost defiant.
“People talk who are not deciding anything,” he said. “They are people who are trying to get money, sitting on a couch, talking about me. They’re not making any decisions. That’s why I’m not worried about it.’’
Entering Monday, Panarin led the Rangers in goals (16), assists (28) and points (44). He has recorded 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in his last 28 games.
He started slowly, with only two assists in his first six games and two goals and five assists in his first 14. That included a six-game pointless streak from Oct. 23 to Nov. 4.
The he turned things around, beginning with a four-game stretch in which he had a goal and two assists at Detroit on Nov. 7, two goals against Nashville on Nov. 10 and four assists in Tampa on Nov. 12.
“He drives offense every game for us,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said. “And I think most recently, the last six weeks or so, I think he’s done that consistently for us, game in and game out.’’
Panarin was asked what turned things around for him after his sluggish start.
“I can say I feel like the games I played in the beginning, when I was playing not well, [were] because of many things — missing training camp [with an injury that caused him to miss the entire preseason], worried about a few things.’’
Worried?
“In the beginning,’’ he said. “Now I’m OK. Now I’m totally fine.’’
Worried about his contract?
“I’m talking about everything,’’ he said.
So what changed?
“I guess I feel I’ve done everything I can and what I have to do,’’ he said. “So from my side, I did everything right. That’s what I think.’’
It’s understandable if the Rangers might be hesitant to commit too many dollars or too many years to an aging Panarin. But if they trade him at the deadline or let him walk as a free agent in the summer, what would they look like?
What would be the plan to replace what he provides?
Notes & quotes: Miller will miss his seventh game with a shoulder injury, but he participated in the optional morning skate in a regular full-contact jersey, meaning he will return soon . . . D Urho Vaakanainen entered the lineup, with Matthew Robertson coming out. Forward Anton Blidh also dressed, with Brett Berard coming out . . . Shesterkin started in goal.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.