Rangers trade Artemi Panarin to the L.A. Kings

He was, without debate, the greatest free-agent signing in Rangers history, but Artemi Panarin’s time with the Blueshirts is over.  The team has cut ties with its Russian talisman on Wednesday, trading the pending free agent to the Los Angeles Kings.

Rangers will receive Liam Greentree, the Kings' first-round draft pick in 2024, and a conditional third-round pick this year and conditional fourth-round pick in 2028 in exchange for Panarin.

The trade comes almost three weeks after general manager Chris Drury threw in the towel on the season on Jan. 16 and announced that, eight years after the Rangers started a full rebuild in 2018, they would “retool,” taking a step back by selling off a few assets and resetting around the existing core and prospects.

That day, Drury met with Panarin and informed him that he wouldn’t be offering him a new contract and instead would work with him to trade him to a destination of his choosing.

Because Panarin had a full no-move clause in his contract, the 34-year-old had total control over where he was traded, as the Rangers needed him to waive the clause in order to move him. That left Drury with little or no leverage to negotiate a more favorable deal for the player who led the team in scoring every season since leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets to sign a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the Rangers in the summer of 2019.

Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring this season with 57 points (19 goals and a team-high 38 assists) despite having been held out the last three games to lower the risk of injury before a trade. In his six-plus seasons as a Ranger, he had 205 goals and 402 assists for 607 points in 482 games. He is eighth on the franchise list in assists and ninth in points, and he is the franchise leader in assists per game (.83), goals created per game (.45) and points per game (1.26).

In his NHL career, which started with Chicago in 2015 as an undrafted free agent, he has 321 goals and 606 assists for 927 points in 804 games.

“He's one of the best Rangers of his generation,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said after Panarin was first held out of the lineup Jan. 28 against the Islanders. “And you know, he's not an easy guy to replace when he's not in the lineup. But everybody understands it.’’

It was always likely that Panarin would be traded away before the March 6 deadline. At his age – he’ll turn 35 in October, shortly after next season starts – the Rangers clearly weren’t going to want to pay him outrageous dollars or give him a long-term contract.

The odds of his getting an extension might have gone up a little after all of the biggest-name potential 2026 free agents – including Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Panarin’s friend Kirill Kaprisov – re-signed with their clubs and took themselves off the market. But the Rangers' poor season turned them into sellers at the deadline, and keeping Panarin made little sense.

In a Jan. 4 interview with Newsday, Panarin seemed to know there was a good chance he would be traded, and he said he was at peace with that. He said “in the beginning,’’ after he got off to a slow start (two assists in the first six games and two goals and five assists in the first 14), he was “worried about a few things.’’

But after he started getting his game back on the ice, he stopped worrying, he said.

“Now I'm OK,’’ he said at the time. “Now I'm totally fine.’’

Asked what had changed, he said, “I guess I feel I’ve done everything I can, and what I have to do . . .  So from my side, I did everything right.’’

Panarin’s linemate of most of the last four seasons, Vincent Trocheck, praised him after the Rangers played their first game without him against the Islanders.

“Obviously, I love Bread,’’ Trocheck said. ''We’ve grown very close over the last four years, and I’ve been lucky enough to play with him on a line for a majority of those four years, and it's been a pleasure.’’

With Panarin gone and defenseman Carson Soucy traded to the Islanders on Jan. 26, the Rangers’ retool is well underway. More players are expected to be traded away before the deadline, Trocheck being one of the most likely.

Injury updates

Adam Fox and Conor Sheary both continued to practice in red, no-contact jerseys, but rookie Noah Laba shed his red jersey for a full-contact jersey… Sullivan said “no” when asked if Fox might play Thursday against Carolina. When asked if Fox’s injury status was taken into consideration when Anaheim’s Jackson Lacombe was chosen to replace Seth Jones on Team USA's Olympic roster, he said “yes.’’  ... Sullivan said Adam Edstrom, who has been on long-term injured reserve since Dec. 10 with a lower-body injury, has been skating on his own.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.