Media Bytes: Panarin and Fox Trade Talk, Tuch, Dolan Backs Drury Again
Trade smoke around Panarin, unease about Adam Fox’s future, and ownership signaling patience at the top: an early Media Bytes as the Rangers’ direction comes sharply into focus.
Welcome back to Media Bytes, a weekly column from Blueshirt Banter. Every Sunday, we’ll help you start the week right with a quick catch-up on the latest stories and developments around the New York Rangers and the broader NHL media landscape.
Today we're bringing you a special early edition of Media Bytes, because this week's media cycle has been red hot and it's only Tuesday. So, enjoy this extra edition, and we'll be back with you again on Sunday with more.
The full version of Media Bytes is for Blueshirt Banter members only. To read the full thing and get it delivered to your inbox every Sunday, become a member at Blueshirt Banter today.
All In for #ALLCAPS?
1. On Monday's edition of DFO Rundown, Jason Gregor and Jeff Marek rolled out a "Halfway Reality Check" for every NHL team—a mid-season gut-check on all 32 NHL clubs. In the middle of that exercise, Marek posed a question to Gregor, somewhere between idle speculation and desire: What about Artemi Panarin to the Capitals this year?
The logic runs in two directions at once. The Capitals load up for what many around the league are starting to wonder might be Alex Ovechkin's final season; and, just as importantly, they line up his spiritual (and financial) successor by re-signing Panarin on a two- or three-year extension to carry the torch when Ovechkin does eventually call it quits.
"I think it's that level of big move that Washington is thinking about here," Marek said, making it clear this isn't some cute deadline rental fantasy. "I can't see [the Capitals] saying 'you know what, it's Ovechkin's last year and we're really just gonna see how it goes.' I think, if this is his last year, they want to send him out with as big a bang as possible."
2. Later in the show, Marek spoke to the state of the New York Rangers, and both somberly and assertively said he believes this team will not just miss the playoffs, but that "this looks like the beginning of a big transition for this squad." Calling back to the idea he posed about sending Panarin to Washington earlier, he went on to say "I think that if they don't make the playoffs, dare I say everything outside of Igor Shesterkin is on the table for [them]?"
3. Rarely are these matters clear this far out from the trade deadline, so it stands to reason that Colin Stephenson's column, published on Monday, also appeared to pour cold water over the idea of trading Panarin at all.
Stephenson, who covers the team for Newsday, spoke with Panarin in person and raised the idea of a potential trade to him directly given all the smoke around his name of late. According to Stephenson, when he did so, Panarin's "jaw stiffened" and "his eyes looked almost defiant."
"People talk who are not deciding anything," Panarin told Stephenson. "They are people who are trying to get money, sitting on a couch, talking about me. They're not making any decisions. That's why I'm not worried about it."
