For all the talk on Artemi Panarin and his potential trade destinations, the discussion has gotten off track.
Paying too much attention to Panarin is futile at this point. The superstar’s departure is a fait accompli. That said, there’s not really much the Rangers or the fanbase can do about the situation. Panarin is a sunk cost at this point, with the club trying to recoup as much as possible.
That’s why the conversation centered on Panarin is misguided. The real topic of conversation should be Alexis Lafrenière. Lafrenière was a rare opportunity for the Rangers to draft a franchise player. While the chance landed during one of the oddest NHL Drafts ever, the opportunity was there, nonetheless.
That’s why the chatter should be on whether the Rangers trade Lafrenière or not. Arguably, now is the best time to move the former top-overall pick. His value is at its highest, potentially landing the club a solid player, a prospect, and a draft pick.
Perhaps packaging Lafrenière with other pieces could lead to a transformational trade. It could be the sort of deal that pushes the “retool” into another level.
Then again, Chris Drury has a powerful incentive to preclude trading Lafrenière entirely.
Trading Lafrenière would signal Rangers’ rebuild failed
The Rangers already went down this road before. The club admitted it needed a change in direction in 2018, undergoing a rebuild. That rebuild led to several top-ten picks. In 2017, the club took Lias Andersson seventh overall. In 2018, it was Vitali Kravtsov. In 2019, Kaapo Kakko got the nod second overall.
The culmination of that plan became Lafrenière in 2020. Yes, the outcome led to a Presidents’ Trophy and an Eastern Conference Final appearance, but that quickly faded. Now, the club is back to square one. That’s why trading Lafrenière would be an admission that the rebuild failed. The Rangers don’t have any meaningful players from their drafts or prospect development to build a new core.
The club utilized its prospects and picks to bring in a veteran group to start over. It worked for the short haul. Now, with a chance to build a team around a few young pieces, like Braden Schneider, Will Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Gabe Perreault, the club could be looking to nuke everything by moving the one player that promised to usher in an era of sustainable winning.
While trading Lafrenière may become an inevitable situation, doing so won’t erase the fact that the Rangers tried a rebuild once, and it failed. Now, they’ll go back to the same formula that didn’t work, hoping it will this time.