As the New York Rangers approach the Christmas break, we can all appreciate how rough the last three weeks have been for this franchise. It's not been the New York Rangers dominance we've come to expect in the previous four years, but it has been eye-opening as the wounds sowed deep within the roster have re-opened. However, let's not focus on the negative. Let's look on the bright side at a drastically overperforming player and how the Rangers have needed him.
We've talked about Cuylle's success as he continues to shine through the fog of uncertainty cast over this franchise, but there is just one man who can hold his head even higher than the Rangers draft pick, Russian winger Artemi Panarin. Panarin has been one of the best players in the league since he signed in Chicago as an undrafted unrestricted free agent out of the Kontinental Hockey League, and he's come to light up the Big Apple.
Last season, he fell just short of the 50-goal mark as he put together a campaign that had him in the debates around Hart Trophy as league MVP.
This season has been more impressive. Everyone else in the top six has taken a step back. Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere aren't producing at the same rate as last season, but Panarin hasn't faltered as he continues to sit around that point-per-game mark.
Through 24 games, the Korkino, Russia native, has 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points. It's not the almost franchise-record season he had last year, but it has been awe-inspiring. Consider the uncertainty around him: he's played with all three of the top nine centers, he's had a rotating cast at right wing, and the Russian has kept going as he has throughout his career. He is the highest-paid player on the roster, so you have a degree of expectation, but that doesn't diminish his accomplishments.
He isn't the New York Rangers' most valuable player, but now, with the Rangers struggling, he is the New York Rangers. This franchise goes as Panarin goes. He's a star in this league, and if the Rangers are going to stop the rot and resist the rumors of a rebuild, they will need Panarin to continue paving the way.