2026 Rangers Report Card: Artemi Panarin

This article is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2025-26 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

To read the Season Preview for Artemi Panarin, go here. 

In the old Soviet Union, a man is standing in Red Square handing out leaflets. Inevitably, the KGB comes by and sweeps him up, and they bring him in for interrogation. As they're preparing to question the man, they realize that the leaflets he's been handing out are blank sheets of paper. They burst into the interrogation room, wave the blank pieces of paper in his face, and demand to know, "What is the meaning of this?"

The man shrugs and replies, "What is there to say? It's all so obvious."

Similarly, what is there to say about Artemi Panarin's tenure as a New York Ranger that hasn't already been said here and on the podcast?

Panarin will go down in New York sports history as one of the best free agent signings by any local team. He more than delivered on the 7-year, $81.5 million contract he signed in 2019, made all the more glorious by him having spurned an offer for more money from the New York Islanders.

But nothing lasts forever. Certainly not Bread. It has a shelf life. And the time to put this bread on sale finally came this past season.

So, let's close the book on the man who high-kicked and buzzcut his way into New York Rangers history.

Expectations

Here's what I wrote in the Season Preview:

There's a sense in which this is one of the easiest player previews to write. The expectations for Artemi Panarin are that he is and continues to be Artemi Panarin. ...

Expect Panarin to come in around 100 points, roughly 35 goals and 65 assists.

Really, that about sums up the expectations from a player performance standpoint.

The other area of expectations were around what would happen with Panarin's expiring contract. Here's what I had to say on that front:

As we've discussed ad nauseam on the podcast, all of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Kirill Kaprizov are—as of now—set to hit free agency next summer. It goes without saying that, assuming any of these players are actually available, the Rangers should be in on them. ...

On the other hand, if the array of NHL insiders suggesting those players are going to re-up with their current teams turn out to be correct, it would make Panarin returning to the Rangers all but a lock. After that elite trio and Panarin, the 2026 free agency list gets into "good but complimentary" kinds of players really fast. Panarin would arguably be the best of the remaining bunch.

Ah, well, nevertheless. In my defense it was a much more innocent time when flowers still smelled sweet and we had some semblance of hope.

Performance

With Rangers: 52 GP | 19 G | 38 A | 57 P | -16 | 159 SOG | 15 PIM

Season Total: 78 GP | 28 G | 56 A | 84 PTS | -7 | 225 SOG | 20 PIM

Part of my operating theory on why Panarin would come in around 35 goals and 65 assists was based on an assumption that the team would be better than they were the prior year when he put up 89 points on a very bad team. Well, about that. As we all know this team had struggles scoring goals, especially in the early parts of the season. That's not all on Panarin, of course. He was still a more than point-per-game player with the Rangers, even as bad as they were. And Panarin did get banged up in the preseason, which probably affected his play in the early parts of the regular season.

All that is to say, Panarin still did just fine with the Rangers this year. Just not nearly as good as I had hoped.

It was also not, of course, Panarin's performance that led to him being traded to the Los Angeles Kings just after the Olympic break. That was far more a subject of the Rangers belief that, given the release of The Letter 2.0, Panarin no longer fit the timeline of the team. And, even with his no-movement clause making things difficult, he was still one of the most attractive assets the team had to deal before the trade deadline.

So, clearly I was wrong that McDavid, Eichel, and Kaprizov coming off the free agent board would mean re-upping with Panarin was "all but a lock." But, as you already know, I didn't think the Rangers would be that bad this year, precipitating another letter and a massive sell off.

I've already had my say in full about the trade, so I wont belabor that here. You can go check out the podcast for full expanded thoughts on that. But the trade was fine. I get that fans were emotional about Panarin and were hoping for a more significant return for one of the most fun and talented players in the league than Liam Greentree and a conditional 2026 third-round pick. I really, truly get it. But you can't just ignore that full no-movement clause. Panarin had the ability to pick his destination at the end of the day, and his choice was L.A. In a monopsony system, it's the buyer who has the power. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is.

Finally, it's my belief that things changed significantly between when the Rangers first talked to Panarin about an extension and when he signed that 2-year, $22 million deal with the Kings. They changed on Panarin's end, but they also changed on the Rangers end, with their timeline now pushed off into the future as they entered a retool/rebuild with the release of the Letter.

In the end, I think the Rangers did the right thing with Panarin, given their circumstances, and they got as much back for him as they could, again given their circumstances.

Grades

Author's Grade: B

Banter Consensus: A-

Final Evaluation

Artemi Panarin is one of the few non-goaltender Rangers in my lifetime who was exactly what he was billed to be when he arrived in New York.

Over this time with the team, he posted 205 goals and 402 assists for 607 points in 482 games over seven seasons. That's good enough for ninth all-time on the franchise points lists, eighth all-time in assists, and 14th all time in goals. The player above him on the all-time points list who played the next fewest games was Andy Bathgage, who put up 729 points in 719 games. Again, Panarin got to 607 points in just 482 games. Incredible stuff.

With time, the bitterness that exists over the way this all ended will fade. No, his time in New York didn't result in a championship. In fairness, in the modern era, only one team's worth of players time did. But he was an incredible New York Ranger, and we should remember his time and all the stupid shit he did from the blueline fondly.

What more is there to say? It's all so obvious.