Mike Sullivan hopes Rangers can ‘move on’ after Artemi Panarin trade
Now that the New York Rangers traded Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Sullivan hopes a cloud of uncertainty’s been lifted from the team he coaches.
Panarin was held out of New York’s previous three games — all losses — for “roster management purposes” and didn’t practice with his teammates as his agent and Rangers general manager Chris Drury worked together to finalize a trade before the NHL roster freeze Wednesday.
They accomplished that when the Rangers traded Panarin to the Kings for forward prospect Liam Greentree and a pair of conditional draft picks. The Rangers coach believes the current group of Blueshirts is better for it.
“Sometimes just the anxiety and uncertainty is more difficult to deal with than the finality of it,” Sullivan said Thursday. “Everybody can move on.”
That doesn’t mean the Rangers are better off without their leading scorer and most dynamic player, of course — just that the uncertainty of when and where Panarin was going to be traded was the issue.
Panarin still leads the Rangers with 57 points (19 goals, 38 assists) in 52 games this season. But even with him, the Rangers season went off the rails long ago. They are last in the Eastern Conference with a 22-28-6 record, and lost 11 of 13 (2-10-1) heading into their final game before the Milan-Cortina Olympic break against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
Mike Sullivan and Artemi Panarin had ‘great relationship’ with Rangers
Panarin ranks ninth in Rangers history with 607 points and is the franchise leader in points per game (1.26). So even though Sullivan spent nearly Panarin’s entire Rangers tenure coaching against him with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he appreciates all that the Breadman brought to the organization.
“We’ve had a great relationship, and he is a terrific hockey player — one of the Rangers’ very best of his generation,” Sullivan said. “His body of work here speaks for itself.”
Panarin infused life into the Rangers’ organization upon signing a seven-year, $81.5 million contract on July 1, 2019. He helped lead the Rangers to a pair of appearances in the Eastern Conference Final, including in 2022 when he knocked Sullivan’s Penguins out of the playoffs with a series-deciding overtime goal in Game 7 of the first round.
“He’s a guy that is unique in the way he plays the game,” Sullivan said. “He certainly can drive an awful lot of offense, and he’s one of those game-breaking-type players. We wish him the very best.”
Named Rangers coach last spring, Sullivan only worked directly with Panarin for a bit more than a half season. Not nearly long enough, for sure. The ending of their working relationship was certainly frustrating.
“When you don’t have the ability to put one of your very best players in the lineup, it doesn’t help your chances,” Sullivan said. “But I also understand it. It’s just the reality of the circumstance and its part of where we are right now.”
The reality is a retool. One that may see plenty more roster upheaval before it’s complete. Also one that won’t sway Sullivan from the task at hand.
“It’s my job to coach the group that I have available each and every night, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Sullivan said. “Chris and I have had a lot of conversations around this and what the game plan is moving forward to try and reshape the organization to be as competitive as it can be in the most expeditious fashion. This is part of the process.”
