The New York Rangers are staring down one of the biggest decisions of their season - and possibly their near future - as star winger Artemi Panarin approaches unrestricted free agency. With the March 6 trade deadline looming, the front office has three real options: extend him, trade him, or keep him in hopes of hammering out a deal in the offseason.
But that last one? It’s a gamble with high stakes and low odds of paying off.
Let’s be real: letting Panarin walk for nothing would be a brutal blow for a team that’s currently sitting at 20-22-6 and clinging to the faint hope of a playoff push. That kind of risk only makes sense if you’re a legitimate contender - and right now, the Rangers just aren’t that.
So, that narrows the path to two realistic outcomes: get a deal done now, or move him before the deadline.
Panarin, for his part, seems at peace with whatever happens next. According to Rangers insider Colin Stephenson, Panarin has made it clear he’s OK with any direction the team chooses - whether that’s staying in New York or moving on. That’s a shift from earlier in the season, when Panarin reportedly turned down a team-friendly extension and made it known he wasn’t planning on giving the Rangers any kind of hometown discount.
He also didn’t come flying out of the gate this year. A preseason injury kept him out of training camp action, and the contract situation weighed on him early.
But as Stephenson noted, Panarin has since moved past that mental hurdle and is back to playing with clarity. Still, he holds all the cards with a full no-move clause - so any trade would have to be to a destination of his choosing.
And that’s where things get complicated.
Moving a player with an $11.643 million cap hit is no small feat. Most Stanley Cup contenders don’t have that kind of cap space lying around, which means salary retention is almost a given.
In fact, it might take a third team to help reduce that cap hit enough to make a deal work. That’s a tightrope walk for GM Chris Drury, but not an impossible one - we’ve seen big-money stars like Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand, and Claude Giroux moved near the deadline in recent years.
Still, the Rangers aren’t ruling out an extension. It’s not off the table, but it would take a serious financial commitment.
Panarin is inching closer to unrestricted free agency, and he’s arguably the most enticing player who could hit the open market. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the Rangers are hoping to have some clarity by the NHL’s Feb. 6 roster freeze ahead of the Winter Olympics.
But if they don’t bring him back, what’s the plan?
Panarin isn’t just a top-line scorer - he’s been the engine of the Rangers’ offense since arriving in 2019. In that span, only Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, and David Pastrnak have more points than Panarin’s 601.
He hit the 600-point mark faster than any player in Rangers history. Last season, his 120 points were the second most in a single season in franchise history.
And this year? He’s leading the team again with 51 points in 47 games.
So here’s the big question: if you move on from Panarin, who fills that void?
As Stephenson pointed out, there’s no obvious replacement waiting in the wings. The Rangers don’t have another player on the roster who can be reliably penciled in for 90 points and 25 goals a season.
And the upcoming free-agent class? It’s thin on superstar talent.
Outside of Alex Tuch in Buffalo, Panarin is the crown jewel. So if the Rangers let him go, they’re not turning around and signing another elite forward in July.
That leaves the trade market as the only realistic path to replacing his production. But again, the Rangers are short on premium assets.
They do have two first-round picks in the 2026 draft, but the prospect pipeline isn’t overflowing with NHL-ready talent. There’s a lot riding on the development of young winger Gabe Perreault, who at 20 years old is still a work in progress.
And even with Panarin on the roster, the Rangers are 30th in the league in scoring, averaging just 2.58 goals per game. That’s a sobering stat - and it underscores the challenge of replacing your top offensive weapon.
So while some fans might be calling for a trade, it’s not as simple as flipping Panarin for futures and moving on. If the Rangers are serious about a retool rather than a full-scale rebuild, they need to find a way to replace his production. And right now, that’s easier said than done.
Whether it’s a blockbuster trade, a long-term extension, or something in between, the Rangers have a franchise-defining decision to make - and time is running out.