Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Colin Stephenson hears that Artemiy Panarin has surpassed the lofty expectations David Quinn had for his team’s splashy offseason acquisition (Newsday)
• Scott Blair reminisces on the most impactful trades in franchise history (The Hockey Writers)
• Steve Paulus looks beyond New York’s record to see how they stack up to the rest of the league at the halfway mark (Blue Line Station)
• Brian Paget hands out report cards for the team’s first half of the season (Elite Sports NY)/

Around the NHL:

• IIHF President Rene Fasel declared that the NHL must decide whether its players will be participating in the 2022 Olympic Games by the end of this summer (TSN)
• Ryan Kennedy details how Los Angeles Kings’ prospect Akil Thomas went from spending the majority of the World Junior Championships on the 4th line to putting the nation of Canada on his shoulders en route to a gold medal (The Hockey News)
• Julian McKenzie ponders that even with Ilya Kovalchuk and Marco Scandella’s arrival in Montreal, it may not be enough for the Canadiens to save their season (Eyes On The Prize)
• The Pittsburgh Penguins wanted to recall goaltender Casey DeSmith from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but DeSmith’s inability to find his passport forced the team to recall Emil Larmi from ECHL Wheeling instead (NBC Sports)/