NHL Rumors: 3 Teams Will Not Give Artemi Panarin an Extension in a Trade

Monday, February 02, 2026 , , ,
New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin walks out for 2026 game.

The trade market around Artemi Panarin keeps tightening, and the biggest wrinkle is still the same one he has been clear about for weeks: he wants a new deal lined up before he approves a move. 

On Sportsnet’s “Saturday Headlines,” Elliotte Friedman reiterated that “an extension matters,” then drew a pretty clear line in the sand with three contenders that will not be giving Panarin an extension in a trade and are only looking at him as a pure rental for a playoff run: the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Anaheim Ducks. 

With the New York Rangers already holding him out for roster-management reasons heading into the Feb. 4 Olympic roster freeze, the pressure is on for teams to decide if they are actually willing to pay both the trade price and the contract price.

Why the extension is the deal breaker right now

For Dallas, the math is tight because big-money priorities are looming (Jason Robertson), and that effectively blocks them from committing to Panarin beyond this season, even if they love the player. 

Colorado is in a similar lane, where the appetite is there for a short-term “all-in” swing but not for a long extension that reshapes their future cap picture. They're right up against the cap, and don't have much coming off the books next season, with a projected cap space of $8M.

Anaheim’s situation is different, but the result is the same, as they are trying to keep flexibility as their young core gets more expensive, so the idea of locking into a massive extension for a 34-year-old winger does not fit their current roster timeline. They currently have a whopping $28M in cap space, and have a projected $39M for next season.

That leaves Panarin in a spot where his preferred path narrows his realistic market, because the teams that will bid hardest in a normal superstar auction are not lining up to put pen to paper immediately.

Panarin’s production still screams “franchise-altering add”

Panarin has 19 goals and 57 points in 52 games this season, and he’s only a couple of years removed from a 120-point explosion in 2023–24. 

On the bigger timeline, he’s been one of the NHL’s most productive players of the era, sitting among the league’s point leaders since 2015–16. That’s why the Rangers can reasonably demand a monster return and why contenders keep calling even if they are trying to sell themselves on a rental-only arrangement. 

Since he came into the league in the 2015-16 season, Panarin has put up 321 goals and 927 points across just 804 games played.

But Friedman’s latest framing makes it sound like the Avalanche, Stars, and Ducks are essentially betting they can talk Panarin into a short-term Cup chase without the security blanket, while the extension-willing clubs are the ones that can truly stay in the driver’s seat when the final decision lands.

Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Go To: NFL Rumors | NBA Rumors | MLB Rumors