BREAKING: Artemi Panarin Traded To West Coast

The New York Rangers have pulled the trigger, trading pending unrestricted free agent Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings. He gets a two-year, $11M AAV contract extension.

BREAKING - The Los Angeles Kings have acquired Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers in exchange for a conditional 3rd-round pick and prospect Liam Greentree, per @AdamSchefter and @emilymkaplan pic.twitter.com/0RaKY7lChC
— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) February 4, 2026

The Rangers get a top prospect in Liam Greentree and a conditional 3rd-round pick in return. New York also retained 50% of Panarin's $11.6M cap hit.

If it still sounds like a minimal return for The Bread Man, the latest news from Emily Kaplan can help explain it:

I’m told the Kings were the only team Artemi Panarin wanted to go to and the only team #NYR had to work with.

Return is Liam Greentree, a conditional 3rd that can become a second if the Kings win 1 playoff round (would be better of two Kings 3rds) and a conditional…
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) February 4, 2026

She reports that Panarin wanted the Kings, and they were the only team the Rangers had to work with.

Considering those parameters, perhaps Rangers GM Chris Drury did alright, after all, getting an exciting top young prospect.

Several teams were in on Panarin until the end. Among them: Carolina. The Caps made a big contract offer. Believe Tampa Bay was there, but possibly as a rental. Don’t think Panthers ever got close, couldn’t make it work with the cap.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) February 4, 2026

Kaplan, who broke the news, also tells us that the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals (with a big contract offer) were in it till the end. As were the Tampa Bay Lightning, but likely as a rental. She doesn't feel that the Florida Panthers ever came close due to their cap restraints.

In 482 games as a Ranger, Panarin had 205 goals and 402 assists for 607 points.

The Kings are starving for offense, currently sitting 28th in the NHL in goals per game. Panarin is a tremendous addition to their forward corps. He was the Rangers' leading scorer in each of his seven seasons in New York.

Greentree was the Kings' top forward prospect, and has 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points in 34 games played with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL this season. He is also a plus-11 and has 46 penalty minutes. He was a first-round pick of the Kings in the 2024 NHL Draft. The 6'3", 216-pound winger had 49 goals and 119 points as a 19-year-old last season with Windsor, with a +55 rating in 64 games.