What can we expect the rest of Artemi Panarin’s career?

Peter Stastny

Peter Stastny was a prolific scorer for the Quebec Nordiques for ten years, beginning in 1980.   He won the Calder Trophy, played in six All-Star Games and finished in the top ten in points six times.

Granted, Peter Stastny played in the NHL at a different time.  In the early 1980s there was more scoring with teams averaging almost an additional goal per game than the current NHL.  Indeed, the ten highest scoring years of the post-expansion era were from 1980 to 1990.

Using the “Similarity Scores” feature at hockeyreference.com, Peter Stastny is one player who compares to Panarin over the first four years of their careers.  The similarities don’t end there.

Both players joined the NHL when they were 24 years old after playing professionally for years abroad.   Stastny was a top scorer for Slovan Bratislava in the Czech League.  Panarin played for SKA in the KHL.

Over their first five years in the NHL, when you adjust their scores over an 82 games schedule with a league average of six goals per game, their numbers are incredibly similar.

                                      Goals      Assists      Points
Artemi Panarin            162         289             451
Peter Stastny              163          296             459

While Stastny was a center and Panarin is a left wing, both were or are adept at setting up goals, not just scoring them.  Now that we’ve established that they are similar players, the important thing to look at is what Stastny did as he got older.

The good news is that Stastny remained an effective offensive player, though his production did decline as he got older. We’ll look at his Goals per Game (GPG) and Points per Game (PPG) after he turned 29.

Age         GPG           PPG
29           0.54          1.61
30           0.38          1.20
31           0.61           1.46
32           0.49           1.18
33           0.39           0.99
34           0.23           0.78

At age 29, Stastny actually had his third best season in PPG and added his fifth best PPG season at age 31.  It’s important to note that he remained a point a game player until he was 34 years old. When Stastny was 33 years old he was traded from Quebec to the Devils for defenseman Craig Wolanin in a deal acknowledged to give him a chance to play for a Stanley Cup contender.