In his introductory news conference with the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday after getting traded from the Rangers on Wednesday, Artemi Panarin spoke about his time in New York, which spanned nearly seven seasons before ultimately coming to an unfortunate ending as the Blueshirts look to shake things up in the midst of a disappointing season.
To his credit, Panarin spoke well about his former organization despite the rocky breakup.
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“It’s a lot of good memories,” he said. “Obviously, a couple of conference finals, always had a great group of guys there too. It’s a pretty good atmosphere and obviously, when you’re winning, it’s pretty helpful and you’re in a good mood every day.”
Signed to a seven-year, $81.5 million deal in 2019 after some excellent stints with the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets in his first four seasons in the NHL, Panarin had an illustrious career for the Rangers. The left winger compiled 205 goals and 402 assists in 482 games played and helped New York get into the playoffs four times, including a span of three straight postseason appearances from 2022-2024.
During that three-year stint, the Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice but were unable to break through to the Stanley Cup either time and are still looking for their first championship since the 1993-94 season.
“Obviously, that’s a great organization,” Panarin said. “The New York Rangers, an original six team, huge history. I was pretty proud for playing for those guys.”
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The veteran also made sure to thank the fans and pledged to make a video for everyone after things settled down for him and his family, who are clearly still trying to process the entire situation after such a long tenure in New York. Panarin even said that he doesn’t like switching back and forth with teams and that he didn’t want to go anywhere just as a rental.
Ultimately, the 34-year-old signed a two-year contract extension with Los Angeles following the trade, which almost certainly helped him with his decision as other playoff contenders were vying for him as well.
Panarin also discussed contract extension talks that he and the Rangers had (and didn’t have), saying they talked about an extension before the season and that was basically it. Nevertheless, he also acknowledged GM Chris Drury‘s hands being tied with how bad the season started for the team and at some point realized his future with the team was in jeopardy.
“I feel like maybe 15 games ago when we started losing everything [I realized] it was possible [to get traded],” Panarin said. “And then when we lost to Boston like 10-1 or something like that, I would say that I already understood that even if Chris wanted to give me a deal, he probably can’t now because we’re kind of struggling here the whole team and we probably need some changes.”
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Now with the Kings, Panarin is ready for a new chapter in his career and is eager to get going in Los Angeles, even if he doesn’t know what his role will be yet or where he will play. With the NHL Olympic break running from Feb. 6 to Feb. 24, Panarin will have to wait quite a while before he suits up for his new team, but he sees the pause as a good thing.
“It’s probably perfect timing because the Olympic break is pretty long this year and it gives me some time to get used to my new team,” he said.
And regardless of where he’s at now or how things ended in New York, Panarin will always have a connection with the Rangers and what they accomplished together.
“I feel like when you play for one team a long time, it will always be in your heart,” he said.
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