The Los Angeles Kings made their biggest splash of the past season when general manager Ken Holland brought in Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers before the trade deadline, and the early returns were impossible to miss.
Now, roughly six months later, The Hockey News has slotted Panarin as the best left winger in the Pacific Division heading into the 2026-27 season. It’s a ranking that fits what he showed in Los Angeles and what he brings to the Kings every time he touches the puck.
Panarin gives the Kings something they can’t really replicate elsewhere on the roster: elite playmaking, sharp hockey sense and the kind of offensive gravity that forces defenders to collapse around him. In the top six, he changes the way teams have to defend Los Angeles.
That was clear in the 26 games he played down the stretch with the Kings last regular season. Panarin posted 27 points in that span, a point per game pace that has long defined his career and still holds up late in it. For Los Angeles, that kind of consistency matters because it shows he can keep producing at a high level well into this stage of his NHL run.
With the puck on his stick, Panarin can steer the attack and create chances in the soft spots of the ice and around the net. Once he arrived, he quickly became the Kings’ most dangerous and productive offensive piece.
He also filled a role the Kings had been missing over the last couple of seasons: a true top-end creator in transition and in the offensive zone. That presence doesn’t just help the group as a whole; it also gives Adrian Kempe a real star to work with on the wing.
The pressure will be there when training camp and preseason open this fall. Panarin is heading into his first full season in Los Angeles with a full offseason, plus camp and preseason time, to build chemistry with his linemates.
Rankings like this always come with some subjectivity, but Panarin has already made a strong case. If he carries over what he did after the trade into a full season, then The Hockey News’ call could end up looking less like a hot take and more like the obvious answer.
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Kings Still Face The Same Brutal Question About Their Offense
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Los Angeles is banking on a different mix for 2026-27, with Artemi Panarin and Mats Zuccarello brought in to help tilt the ice the other way and Quinton Byfield expected to keep growing into a more dangerous center. Even so, the real pressure remains on the group behind them. The Kings need more from their top six and, just as importantly, more secondary scoring if they want this to become a balanced attack instead of another season of asking the defense and goaltending to do too much. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Offseason Blue Line Search Just Ran Into A Major Twist
The Kings have spent much of the offseason trying to add a defenseman who can move the puck cleanly and help reshape the blue line, and Alexander Nikishin has emerged as a name worth watching. The Carolina Hurricanes blueliner fits the profile Los Angeles has been chasing: young, left-shot and viewed as a player who could bring some needed structure and transition game to a back end that is still looking for answers.
What makes the situation interesting is that Nikishins future in Carolina is unsettled, with contract talks still hanging over his status and his salary expectations reportedly creating some friction. A trade is not considered close, but the Kings are among the teams believed to be in the mix if the Hurricanes decide they cannot bridge the gap, which would turn a quiet offseason search into a more complicated market fast. [Read more 🡒]