Someday, someone’s going to tell all about the final 48 hours of Artemi Panarin’s Rangers tenure. Because it sounds bonkers.
As best as I can tell — and I freely admit I don’t have the full picture — here is what happened:
Panarin wanted Florida and Tampa Bay involved. Those two teams would have been right at the top of his list, especially the Panthers.
I don’t believe it ever got anywhere close with either. Despite my podcast diatribe explaining how the Panthers could do it, that didn’t go far. It appears the Lightning considered it to some degree, but they aren’t crazy about rentals and whatever they were willing to consider on an extension wasn’t satisfactory.
So it was on to other options.
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With 20/20 hindsight, we know California ranked next. Panarin liked the idea of reuniting with Joel Quenneville. But Anaheim wasn’t willing to extend, at least not right now. That eliminated the Ducks. San Jose looked into it, but I’m still not sure how far that went.
Enter Los Angeles.
When it first got out that the Rangers weren’t going to re-sign Panarin, there were rumours of the Kings trading for Evander Kane. They were treading water at that point, and openly wondered if giving up assets made any sense at all. Then, the Panarin possibility dropped on their laps, and they had to consider it.
They felt their greatest need was a centre. But when a talented offensive player indicates he’d like to come your way, you can’t ignore it. I called the possibility of him going there “a fresh coat of paint,” and honestly, they needed it.
Here’s where it gets goofy. According to multiple sources, the Kings’ Panarin pursuit almost fell apart over the last couple of days. From the beginning, they were nervous about term on an extension for the 34-year-old winger. But the two sides were discussing something in the $45 million range. (My guess is five years at a $9 million AAV, but don’t know that for sure.)
On Tuesday, that fell apart. Los Angeles wasn’t willing to go there. Panarin’s agent, Paul Theofanous (who could not be reached for comment) contacted several teams to juice the bidding. Only he knows what he really told people, but word spread like wildfire that he’d indicated Panarin was going to Carolina and someone else was willing to pay $60 million (a four-year contract with a $15 million AAV).
All of this was denied by anyone we asked (for good reason, as it turned out) but it certainly created a couple hours of craziness. Everyone heard the same rumours, and no one could figure out what was happening.
One major suspect for the big bidder: Seattle, who beat the Kings Wednesday night and are third in the Pacific. Several sources indicated the Kraken offered a four-year extension “with an AAV higher than Leon Draisaitl’s.” The Edmonton cornerstone is at $14 million. That’s … just wow … but I’m not surprised they’d do it. It’s bold and it fits what they’re looking to do.
“We had discussions with Paul Theofanous…just like numerous other teams,” GM Jason Botterill said early Thursday morning. “We will continue to be aggressive at improving our team. But we won’t comment on discussions with agents/players.”
Carolina lurked. So did Washington, and, I suspect, Utah. But Panarin, as evidenced Wednesday when he told the Rangers he would only go to LA, wanted the Kings. So they re-engaged and got to the two-year, $22-million zone they were comfortable with.
Panarin wanted LA so badly he may have left $30 million behind.
It’s a big win for Los Angeles, snaring a star after being rebuffed the past few years by Rasmus Andersson, Brad Marchand and Linus Ullmark.
We’ll look at other tentacles of this trade later Thursday.
