Breaking: NY Rangers To Work With Artemi Panarin's Camp on a Trade

New York Rangers GM Chris Drury released a letter to fans on Friday, making some bold statements, most notably the fact that they will be conducting “a retool built around our core players and prospects.”

However, Artemi Panarin will not be one of those 'core' players. According to insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Drury met with players personally before releasing the letter.

As part of this retool process, Artemi Panarin was informed that he will not be offered a contract extension, and that Drury was prepared to work with him and agent Paul Theofanous to trade the winger anywhere he wishes to go.

Panarin, 34, is wrapping up a seven-year, $81.4 million deal, with an $11.6M AAV. He is once again the Rangers' leader in scoring — as he has been in each and every one of his seven years with the club. But his refusal to accept a team-friendly, shorter-term, lower AAV deal that was offered before the season has sealed his fate, and he will be moving on, sooner or later this year.

Panarin has 7 weeks to decide on his fate

He now has seven weeks before the March 6 trade deadline to decide what his future holds. But as Friedman notes, Panarin does have a full no-move, and has every right to simply play out the season in New York, and decide in the offseason where he wants to go next. That, of course, would leave the Rangers with nothing in return.

Panarin has 16 goals and 51 points in 47 games this season, and in seven years on Broadway, has 202 goals and 601 points in 477 games with a plus/minus rating of +69.

Just earlier this week, Friedman noted four Stanley Cup contenders that are teams to watch in the Panarin sweepstakes.