Rangers' Panarin Linked To Much-Improved Team In West

The New York Rangers continue to struggle to stay afloat despite a talented core group of players. But there is criticism inside that group, along with the weak depth. The Rangers may be approaching a point where they break things up and we see a couple of key players moved to at least change some of the culture.

Elliotte Friedman spoke about the possibility of the Rangers and Anaheim Ducks pulling off a deal and said, "A guy I kind of wondered about a while ago was Artemi Panarin. The thing is, though, if you bring in Panarin, how is that going to affect the young kids you have?"

The Ducks absolutely have the cap space and talent, and are second in the Western Conference, so adding a big star would make a lot of sense. Friedman's worry is warranted as the Ducks have fared well so far and the young players are leading the charge. But there are veterans mixed in, like Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn, Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas, and Petr Mrazek already. Even with plenty of cap space, I would expect someone like Vatrano or Killorn would be headed the other way in a trade for Panarin to give the Rangers another body to fill their lineup.

Panarin hasn't seemed willing to take any sort of pay cut or team-friendly deal to stay with the Rangers, so combine that with a below-average team performance, and a trade is more and more likely by the day. There aren't many teams that could pull off a deal for an $11.5 million player, either.

Where Panarin would fit into the Ducks lineup and whose role he reduces could mess with chemistry though. The assumption would be that he gets top power play time, so it would likely kick Beckett Sennecke off the top unit and, thus, kick Killorn off the second unit. Panarin would also see a top-6 role as he averages over 20.5 minutes per game and has five goals and 19 points in 21 games. This would also push Sennecke down, so it appears like the same talented young player would be impacted by this.

But, given the Ducks' position, it would be a waste and a big mistake for the team not to add and address any holes they have ahead of a playoff run if they are a legitimate contender. For now, negatively impacting a player or two so the Ducks improve is worth giving them a better shot at the Stanley Cup.