As the saga of Artemi Panarin finally came to a close with his trade Wednesday to the Kings, the Rangers entered their final game before the NHL’s Winter Olympics break — and the accompanying league-wide freeze — knowing their rookie season would begin again with more work to be done by general manager Chris Drury to rebuild the 2026-2027 roster.
Panarin, who inked a two-year, $22 million contract extension with Los Angeles in order to pass unrestricted free agency this summer, is assigned small forward Liam Greentree and at least one conditional third-round pick, depending on Los Angeles’ postseason success.
The last-place Rangers have already played the last three games without Panarin, who was ruled out in losses to the Islanders and Penguins before the pre-Olympic final against the Hurricanes at the Garden.
“Well, I guess it’s your end,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said when asked about Panarin’s official departure following Thursday’s morning skate in Tarrytown, before the Rangers lost, 2-0, to the Hurricanes. Sometimes the anxiety of uncertainty is more difficult to deal with than to keep it. Everyone can move forward.”
Sullivan said he wished the 34-year-old Panarin “the best” in the interview after the trade was announced Wednesday afternoon.
He also added that he has “fixed the situation” with the team, which began play Thursday night on a 3-12-2 tailspin to sink to the bottom of the Eastern Conference championships.
“It’s not like that [easy] because it is clear that we are all in this to win,” said Sullivan. “We are all determined to try to win. It’s a competitive league, it’s a competitive environment, and we all compete and want to win. So if you don’t have the ability to put one of your best players on the roster, that doesn’t help your chances. But I also understand that this is just the reality of the situation, and it’s part of where we are right now. It’s my job to coach the guys that I get every night, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
With the 20-year-old Greentree set to finish his current season with OHL Windsor, the Rangers will continue to fill the void left by Panarin, their leading scorer, inside.
Will Cuylle has skated in his place for the past few games alongside Vincent Trocheck.
“You know we’re not going to sign a player, and he’s going to replace what Artemi did for this team,” said Sullivan. “I think what we’re trying to do is build a team game where we can replace the committee. I think we can do a better job of being tough to play against, giving less chances on the defensive end, which should give us a chance to make a mistake on that. But I can’t do that. We’re not plugging anybody and saying, ‘Hey gotenna’s brought this team of ours. That would be unfair.”
In the meantime, Greentree — the 6-foot-2 point guard and No. 26 pick by the Kings in the 2024 NHL Draft — will be given a chance to develop within the organization.
“Obviously I have talked to him [Drury] so, and I know our hockey operations department is very excited about this player, and the opportunity for him to be an impact player in the NHL,” said Sullivan. So we’re very excited to add him to our team, and we’ll see what happens going forward. I think when the time is right, I’ll try to get used to him and his game, for sure.
“Obviously, Chris and I have had a lot of conversations about this and how the game plan is moving forward to try to reshape the organization and compete in a much faster way. So this is part of the process. It’s not a new surprise to me. I understand that, and we’re working together to do everything we can to try to accomplish what we’ve been doing for everybody.”
