Joe's Reaction of the Week (Chip Version): And So It Ends

There's only one topic in Rangers-land worth discussing, and we all know what it is.

Chip23

06 Feb 2026 — 3 min read

When you think about your favorite team, certain dates live rent-free in your brain. For New York Rangers fans, nothing tops June 14, 1994—the day they last won the Stanley Cup and accidentally set the franchise to nostalgia mode for the next three decades.

July 1, 2019 doesn’t quite reach that sacred tier, but it’s an easy top ten. Artemi Panarin was not only the best unrestricted free agent the Rangers have ever signed; over the last thirty years, he’s probably the second- or third-best player they’ve acquired by any method short of divine intervention. The only clear “no debate” name ahead of him is Henrik Lundqvist.

The buildup felt inevitable, until it briefly didn’t. Everyone knew Panarin wanted New York, then the rumor mill went feral: Maybe Florida in a Sergei Bobrovsky bundle, maybe the New York Islanders swoop in and make life unbearable. They didn’t. Panarin came to the Big Apple, delivering the Rangers their biggest roster earthquake since Jaromir Jagr.

I’ve always said Panarin was the right player at the wrong time. Imagine him on the left wing with a young J.T. Miller and Mats Zuccarello instead of spending his prime doing humanitarian work for centers like Ryan Strome and Vincent Trocheck. The fact that his numbers were still ridiculous is a minor miracle.

Panarin leaves the Rangers after 482 games. Here’s the damage: