Artemi Panarin has a new club address.
On Wednesday, it became clear that the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings completed a trade that for Panarin entails a move across the American continent; from its eastern coast to its western.
Panarin, who this year is in the final year of the seven-year, $81.5 million contract he signed with the Rangers on July 1, 2019, signed a new two-year deal with the Kings in connection with the trade.
The contract between Panarin and the Kings goes into effect next season, 2026-27, and then extends through 2027-28. The new deal has an average hit against the salary cap of eleven million dollars.
In exchange for Panarin, the Rangers received forward talent Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. If the Kings win a playoff run this season, the draft pick will become a second-round pick. If the Kings win two playoff rounds this season, the Rangers will receive, in addition to the current second-round pick, a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.
As part of the trade, the Rangers agreed to pay 50 percent of Panarin’s salary under the current contract. The forward had been deliberately left out of Rangers’ line-up for the past three games so as not to damage his value in a potential swap deal.
The Rangers are currently in last place in the Eastern Conference, 18 points behind the Boston Bruins who are in the second wild card spot for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Panarin led New York in scoring in all of his seasons with the club. This season he has accounted for 57 points (19+38) in 52 games.
Before joining the Rangers, Panarin played two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks between 2015 and 2017, where he won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2015-16 and formed a feared duo with Patrick Kane.
Greentree, 20, has yet to make his NHL debut. The forward was selected by the Kings in the first round, as the 26th player overall, of the 2024 NHL draft and has accounted for 45 points (23+22) in 34 games with Windsor in the Ontario Hockey League this season.
