It’s time for some more NHL rumours. We’re almost to October and the start of the regular season. However, general managers are already looking ahead to the next campaign. It’s a hard balancing act to keep players on their respective rosters. There are plenty of factors going into whether a player re-signs or goes elsewhere. Age is one of the main things that weigh into a decision.
One team that has a tough choice is the New York Rangers. This edition addresses a potential contract offer for one of their star players.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Contract Offer For New York Rangers Star Player
Rumour: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed on a recent edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Rangers came to Artemi Panarin with a team-friendly offer. However, the insider revealed the forward didn’t accept the deal.
Analysis: Panarin will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the coming campaign. He’s one of the Blueshirts’ top players, but he is also 34 years old. New York is coming off a season that was completely disappointing after being tapped as being a possible Stanley Cup favourite.
Friedman mentioned that Rangers General Manager Chris Drury and company tried to get Panarin to accept a contract similar to what another veteran took. The Los Angeles Kings were able to get Anze Kopitar to sign a very team-friendly deal of two years and $7 million per season. Kopitar taking that contract helped Los Angeles be able to get some more weapons in the free agent market.
It seems that the Rangers want to keep Panarin around past this season. However, they want to make things work when it comes to the numbers. They also don’t want to give a lengthy contract to someone that could be a regression candidate in the next couple of seasons.
What It Means
Panarin is in the last year of his contract that sees him with an average cap hit of $11.6 million. Friedman mentioned that it didn’t seem to interest Panarin to ink that short-term deal for lesser money. The Russian has still been productive and coming off a 37-goal season.
Teams are willing to pay for scoring pop and Panarin has provided plenty of that over his career. Panarin is banking on getting one more massive payday before he calls it a career.
New York is going to have plenty of salary cap space going forward in the coming off-season. Drury might have to go in a different direction if Panarin decides to move on. There are a number of big-name free agents that could hit the open market this coming summer. The Rangers might make a run at going after someone like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel or someone else. However, that may be a moot point if those all re-sign with their respect teams.
Contracts talks with Panarin and the Blueshirts will be interesting. We’ll have to see how talks shake out if they continue through the season and into the next offseason.
Main photo by: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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