The 2026 free-agent class might not be as strong as originally anticipated, and that puts pressure on the New York Rangers to sign Artemi Panarin to a contract extension.
Given all of the contracts the Rangers have dumped over the past year, on top of the fact that Artemi Panarin’s seven-year, 81.5 million deal is set to expire after the 2025-26 season, it seemed as if the Rangers were positioning themselves to be major players in the free-agent market this upcoming summer.
The 2026 free-agent market was supposed to feature multiple superstar caliber players, including Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor.
However, the landscape of the 2026 offseason has drastically changed.
Over the past couple of weeks, McDavid signed a contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers, Kaprizov signed a contract extension with the Minnesota Wild, Eichel signed a contract extension with the Vegas Golden Knights, and Connor signed a contract extension with the Winnipeg Jets.
All of these moves simply shift leverage in contract negotiations from the Rangers to Panarin.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Rangers wanted Panarin to take a team-friendly deal during the summer, but the two sides were unable to agree.
“I understand, at some point in the off-season, the Rangers had that kind of conceptual conversation with Panarin: ‘Is there a way you could do for the Rangers what Kopitar did for the Kings?’” Friedman said. “Obviously, at this point and time, it hasn’t happened. I don’t know where that’s going to go, I don’t know if that’s going to be a possibility, but I do know the two sides had the conversation and, obviously, at this point, Panarin is unsigned.”
While the Blueshirts seem reluctant to commit to Panarin on a long-term basis, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury is handcuffed in this situation.
Essentially, all of the players the Rangers could have replaced Panarin with who were set to hit the open market are no longer available.
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Despite already being 33 years old, Panarin continues to show he has a lot left in the tank, and as of last season, he was still playing at an all-star caliber level.
Panarin is gaining an upper edge on the Rangers the longer these negotiations take, and with all of these groundbreaking contract extensions getting finalized.
The Rangers are not in a rebuild by any means and remain committed to a win-now mentality, and Panarin is their main offensive catalyst.
Without a feasible backup plan in place, it may be time for the Rangers to sign Panarin to a contract extension once and for all.
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