Should The Rangers Consider Trading Artemi Panarin

As we enter Day 3 without New York Rangers hockey, the wound is still fresh and the hurt won’t be going away anytime soon. The Rangers spoke to the media one last time before their long offseason and now we will have lots of time on our hands to speculate what the Rangers are going to do this summer. While most of the attention is on Gerard Gallant, some attention will be going to the players as well.

One player, in particular, had a very disappointing playoff performance. This of course is Artemi Panarin. The highest-paid player on the team failed to show up in the big games and now, many fans want to see him traded away. The question is should the Rangers consider trading their superstar, or should they hold on to him and try to run it back next season?

Is it a realistic possibility that the Rangers trade him this summer? No, but we as fans are well in our right to speculate about these kinds of things because we have all the time in the world to think about it. The first obstacle to any trade of Panarin is his No-Move Clause. This means that the Rangers can only trade him to teams that he wants to go to and as of now, it doesn’t seem like he wants to go anywhere else.

He wanted to be a Ranger and he took less money to do it. He also enjoys being in New York and has been a key contributor since his arrival in 2019. He would not make it easy on the Rangers if they asked him where he would want to be traded and if he says nowhere, then that settles it right there. The only person that controls whether or not he gets traded is Panarin himself. He has all the power and it seems as if he will remain a Ranger for the foreseeable future.

However, we can still have fun brainstorming about a potential Panarin deal. While he is a superstar and the Ranger’s best offensive player, there could be some upside in trading him away. It would clear up tons of cap space for the Rangers to make more moves and signings and it would allow them to acquire assets in a Panarin trade that help to fill out the rest of the lineup.

Trading him also allows Lafreniere to step up into the top six and gives him the opportunity to truly show what he can do when he is playing with top-end players. A Panarin trade package could be similar to the Matthew Tkachuk trade from last summer. It could be an exchange of superstar players and other assets that benefit both teams.

A trade package could also be similar to the Marian Gaborik trade in Columbus where the Rangers got multiple assets to help fill out the lineup and while that might not be the most appealing option, it could help the Rangers out in the long run.

While there are positives to a trade of Panarin, there are also negatives. It could severely impact the morale of the players still on the team. Knowing that their top player got traded because they failed would definitely mess with their heads. Trading him would also impact the Rangers’ offensive output. He has been the Rangers top scorer since he got here and trading him away could mess up the chemistry on and off the ice.

You never know if the new players you bring in are going to work out or not. That is why you rarely see trades involving superstar players. By trading away the best player, you could end up hurting your team instead of improving it. That is always something to consider when bringing up these kinds of names in trade conversations.

Artemi Panarin is one of the most gifted players in the NHL today. He can do things most players can’t and he has been such a wonderful New York Ranger. However, he has failed to get it done when it matters most, and now, the fanbase is turning against him. Even if he has a great regular season, all eyes are going to be on what he does in the playoffs if the Rangers get there next season. Should the Rangers trade Artemi Panarin?

Would it make them a better team? Those are the big questions that would need to be answered if something like that were to happen.