Rangers Waiting To Decide Future With Or Without Panarin

The New York Rangers are primed to storm back into the playoffs this season. 2024-25 was an anomaly with the talent on that team and they have made some more changes, welcoming a couple new faces as well as some young talent. I believe that will be enough if the stars perform like they can, but some aren't sold that the Rangers will be able to be the powerhouse they were the season prior.

Frank Seravalli said that "I think the Rangers want to see how this year plays out; if things go sideways, you can bet they're going to be making some hard decisions." This was referring to Artemi Panarin as he's in the last year of his deal, he is in his mid-30s now, and that's a lot of money to free up to do other things with.

Replacing Panarin's production isn't going to be easy at all, but he is going to start to decline at a higher rate. I don't necessarily think that is going to be this season though as Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle are only getting better up front, Adam Fox is set to have a big season, J.T. Miller is now with the team for the full season, and Vincent Trocheck/Mika Zibanejad are set for a bounce back.

Panarin has the pieces around him and the Rangers should be a good team. This doesn't look like a group that should be selling or experiencing troubles anymore, but surprises happen and nobody expected them to struggle and have problems the season after winning the Presidents' Trophy.

It has been an extremely productive six seasons that Panarin has been a Ranger, and the 33-year-old should be considered the best free agent signing in Rangers history. He's scored 186 goals and 550 points in 430 regular season games, finishing top-5 in Hart trophy voting twice, recording a 49-goal, 120-point season, and never having a worse season than nine points above a point-per-game.

It has been a perfect match between the Rangers and Panarin and I don't think it's going to come to an end, but the season could have some interesting turns in store.