Rangers coach provides brief Artemi Panarin update, waiting for trade
Artemi Panarin once again didn’t practice with the New York Rangers on Tuesday. And that had nothing to do with the fact that coach Mike Sullivan allowed the veterans to skip the on-ice session, kind of a group maintenance day.
Panarin remains in limbo, if you will, awaiting a trade that’s either hours or weeks away from happening. One of the most exciting players in franchise history won’t practice with the Rangers again, much less play in another game wearing the Blueshirt. The Rangers made that clear last week, scratching him in three straight games for “roster management” purposes.
And even if the Rangers don’t manage to trade Panarin before the NHL roster freeze for the Winter Olympics on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET, The Breadman won’t be in the lineup Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sullivan did acknowledge he’s been in contact with Panarin, though. It’s not as simple as out of sight, out of mind.
“I talked to him yesterday, yeah, he’s good,” Sullivan said Tuesday after practice. “He is continuing to skate on his own schedule. But I spoke to him yesterday and we’ll continue to control what we can until the business side of the game resolves itself.”
When that resolution arrives is anyone’s guess. There’s no doubt that the Rangers, Panarin, and an acquiring team each prefers this trade to happen sooner rather than later. But no one’s going to force the issue just to get it done by the roster freeze Wednesday. Trades can happen again after Feb. 22 and up until the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6. So, there is time to work through a very complicated process.
“I do think we are getting to this pressure point, because of [Wednesday’s] 3 p.m. deadline and something should happen because now there is enough momentum, but we’re sitting here today and I’ve heard nothing concrete, just a lot of conflicting information, and I cannot guarantee to you that it will happen,” ESPN hockey reporter Emily Kaplan said Tuesday on The Sheet with Jeff Marek.
Artemi Panarin trade limbo has ‘impact’ on Rangers
In the meantime, the Rangers make do without Panarin on the ice. Replacing their leading scorer isn’t exactly easy, they’ve lost all three games without him, though it’s not like the Rangers were a well-oiled machine with Panarin in the lineup this season. After all, they’re 22-28-6, last place in the Eastern Conference, and careening toward a second straight season missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And that’s with Panarin playing 52 of their 56 games.
So, how does Sullivan think the Rangers are handling things these days?
“I’d probably be lying to you if I said it doesn’t have an impact. These guys are human beings, and of course it does. The uncertainty is not easy, and the other aspect is these guys build relationships with one another, they care about each other, they’re friends,” Sullivan explained, “The business side of the game can be the most difficult. We all understand it, it’s what we all signed up for me. But it doesn’t make it easy. That’s just the reality of it.”
