One of the biggest free agents in the market is now with a brand new team. The New York Rangers signed forward Artemi Panarin to a seven-year, $81.5 million contract ($11.46 million AAV).
Most comparable contracts to Artemi Panarin
7 years $11.64M AAV #Rangers1. Mark Stone (VGK)
2. Jonathan Toews (CHI)
3. John Tavares (TOR)
4. Patrick Kane (CHI) pic.twitter.com/qTk4vzWQts— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 1, 2019
The Bread Man turned down offers from the Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and New York Islanders. According to multiple reports, Panarin rejected Columbus’ last-minute monster offer of eight years, $96 million on Sunday night. Earlier in the season, he rejected an eight-year extension offer from Columbus and made it clear early in the season that he didn’t plan on being in Columbus long term.
Does the Artemi Panarin signing mark the end of the @NYRangers’ rebuild?#SigningSeason | #NHLFreeAgency pic.twitter.com/dUxK1yS767
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 1, 2019
The Rangers are having a huge offseason gaining Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox and now Panarin in the lineup. With these additions, the Rangers showed that they completed the rebuilding process. With their current lineup and recent moves, expect them to be in the playoffs. The Rangers cleared up cap space by trading forward Jimmy Vesey to the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round pick. Pavel Buchnevich, Tony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux are all restricted free agents the Rangers like to sign.
After signing Panarin, the #Rangers now have $8,769,391 in projected cap space, with a roster of 19 (11F/6D/2G)
Notable RFA’s:
Brendan Lemieux
Pavel Buchnevich
Jacob Trouba
Anthony Deangelo pic.twitter.com/PrMSuvY8jb— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 1, 2019
During the 2018-19 season, Panarin was in a lot of trade rumors after he turned down an eight-year extension offer from Columbus. He and Sergei Bobrovsky were the most talked about players during the 2019 trade deadline. But it turned out Columbus ended up being the buyers of the 2019 trade deadline by gaining Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. Columbus surprised many people with these trades. They made a gamble and kept Panarin and Bobrovsky for the rest of the season.
If you’re scoring at home, here is what #CBJ has lost assets wise.
Artemi Panarin (pending)
Sergei Bobrovsky
Matt Duchene
Ryan Dzingel
Adam McQuaid
Keith Kincaid
Vitaly Abramov
Jonathan Davidsson
Anthony Duclair
2019 First Rounder
2019 4th/7th
2020 2nd
2021 2nd— Mark Scheig (@markscheig) July 1, 2019
One of the biggest game-breakers available, Artemi Panarin, has chosen the New York Rangers. He’s a possession driving player who creates plays using his skill to control the puck all over the ice #NYR pic.twitter.com/o2dsJ5v23s
— The Point (@ThePointHockey) July 1, 2019
The 27-year-old Russian scored 87 points (29 goals, 59 assists) in 79 games in the 2018-19 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the first round of the playoffs, he helped Columbus sweep the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning. It was the first time in franchise history that they won a playoff series. Columbus later lost in the second round against the Boston Bruins. Panarin finished the playoffs scoring 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 10 games.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=1ra0iiP_bj8%2520frameborder%3D0%2520allow%3Daccelerometer%3B%2520autoplay%3B%2520encrypted-media%3B%2520gyroscope%3B%2520picture-in-picture%2520allowfullscreen
Panarin had a different route than a lot of NHL players. On April 29, 2015, he entered the NHL as an undrafted free agent, signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. In his rookie year, he won the Calder Trophy (top rookie), scoring 77 points (30 goals, 47 assists). In 322 games with the Blackhawks and Islanders, he scored 320 points (116 goals, 204 assists).
Featured Image Credit: ESNY Graphic, AP Photo
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