The New York Rangers are not having the best of starts to the 2025-26 season. The team sits at the bottom of Metropolitan Division standings, and they are currently 0-5-1 at home. The lack of scoring has been an issue for the Rangers, especially when it comes to their top players. Artemi Panarin is one of them.
Panarin is a free agent after this season and looks to be the best player available on the open market. But before their Friday night game against the Detroit Red Wings, Panarin is on a six-game streak without a point. So, Panarin resorted to superstitious move he made in the past to try and snap out of his slump.
On Thursday, numerous Rangers reporters pointed out that Panarin showed up to practice with a fully shaved head. This isn't new for Panarin, as he did this before at the start of the 2023 training camp. After doing that, Panarin put up a career-high 120 points that season. Panarin hopes shaving the hair off his head will help him finally end his scoring slump.
Artemi Panarin hopes shaving head results in 2023-like comeback for Rangers star
“I just wanted to change something,” said Panarin, h/t The Athletic. “Next step is a left (handed) stick for me.”
As Panarin's quote says, he's hoping that sporting a buzz cut again can help him get back on track in terms of scoring. If not that, he's ready to switch to a left-handed stick as the next step of his plan to finally be able to put points on the board on a game-to-game basis.
During the 2023-24 season, Panarin put up a season-high 49 goals and 120 polnts, which helped earn him a trip to the All-Star Game and finish fifth in Hart Trophy voting for the league's most valuable player (MVP). Panarin followed up that regular season with a 15-point playoff run (five goals, 10 assists) to help the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
Through 14 games this season, Panarin has just two goals and five assists. The last time Panarin put a point on the stat sheet, it was in their Oct. 20 game against the Minnesota Wild, where he scored a goal to end the Rangers' scoreless streak at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers went on to lose that game 3-1.
Panarin will hope that this decision to revert to a previous change can yield similar results. Maybe that will work tonight against Detroit. If not, maybe on Saturday at home against the rival Islanders.