Artemi Panarin finds himself in a similar position to the one he found himself in during the 2018-19 campaign, his last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
He played the entirety of that season without a contract extension before signing a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers over the 2019 offseason.
It was an experience Panarin had mixed feelings about.
“It was alright,” Panarin said about playing without a contract extension in Columbus. “Obviously, after bad games, you are thinking too much, but after good games, you enjoy it more than usual.”
The 34-year-old has entered uncharted territory with the Rangers, playing without a contract extension in place, and his future remains uncertain.
For the first time since he signed with the Blueshirts, trade rumors are circulating involving Panarin.
While Panarin admitted that his murky future got to his head early on in the season, he emphasized that it hasn’t been on his mind recently.
“Honestly, in the beginning of the year it was difficult for me,” Panarin said. “Now I just forget about that and just play hockey.”
Despite a slow start to the 2025-26 season in terms of production, Panarin has found his game, currently leading the team with 14 goals, 24 assists, and 38 points.
Panarin attributed his early-season struggles to missing part of training camp due to a couple of nagging injuries, but he feels he has been playing with more confidence lately.
On top of averaging 20:55 minutes per game, the most in his NHL career, Panarin has adapted to playing on a line alongside Mika Zibanejad.
The two forwards haven’t played together constantly up until this year, and they've made for a potent offensive duo.
“This is probably our longest run together,” Panarin said of playing with Zibanejad. “Usually we play a couple games and then switch back. (I) feel better because when you play with a guy, especially Mika, he has a good IQ, so we can feel for each other…
“I feel we can read the game pretty well sometimes. (We) feel the odd-man rush, go for two-on-ones. He feels me pretty well, He usually knows where I am supposed to be”
Before the start of training camp, Mike Sullivan revealed that when he coached the Pittsburgh Penguins, Panarin was the player that he scouted and gameplanned for the most on the Rangers.
Now, being around Panarin and getting to know him over the past few months, Sullivan has learned more about his game and the best approach to coaching him.
“He has the ability to drive offense. He's a difference maker,” Sullivan said of Panarin. You can use the phrase overturned gamebreaker. There's a number of those guys in the league, but they're unique in that regard, and I think Bread is one of those guys. I've had a fair amount of experience in coaching those types over the years.
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“I think based on my experience, you can't coach those guys the same way, you've got to give those guys certain latitude to act on their instincts. I certainly try to do that. The phrase I use with him all the time is, just meet me halfway with respect, to playing away from the puck, positional play assignments, off of faceoffs, things of that nature, offensively, we try to stay out of his way and allow him to trust his instincts and act on his instincts. I think that's what makes Bread unique, and so we do our very best to stay out of his way in that regard.”
Panarin’s future with the Rangers could very well be dedicated to whether or not the team remains in the playoff hunt by around the trade deadline.
A Panarin trade is possible if the Rangers are teetering outside of the playoffs and decide to opt in the direction of a retool, trading some of their veterans in an effort to accumulate more draft picks and assets.
Right now, it appears as if Panarin and the Rangers brass are going to let this contract situation play out, with all possibilities still on the table.