Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesWhile it’s inevitable that the New York Rangers trade Artemi Panarin before the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline, when exactly it will happen and to which team still remains unclear.
Panarin’s fate with the Blueshirts was sealed when Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury held an individual meeting with the veteran forward and informed him that the team does not plan to re-sign him past this season and will look to trade him to anywhere he wishes to go.
Drury has yet to speak on his behalf publicly to address the letter he issued with the Rangers’ plan to retool as well as his decision not to give Panarin a contract extension.
As a result of Drury’s absence, which has become all too familiar since he took over hockey operations of the Rangers in 2021, his newly appointed coach, Mike Sullivan, is forced to essentially talk for Drury, throwing him into an uncomfortable situation.
The topic of why exactly the Rangers opted not to sign Panarin to a contract extension and instead are looking to trade him came up in an interview with Sullivan on Tuesday.
Sullivan described it as a big-picture decision.
“It boils down to, I think, big-picture decision making,” Sullivan said of the Rangers’ decision not to re-sign Panarin. “I think this is obviously a discussion that probably predated me… As far as looking at the core group and where they're at and where potentially they're going to go moving forward, every organization goes through those decisions.
“I don't think you make those decisions on a whim. There’s a lot of smart people in this league and so those conversations are had, they’re ongoing conversations. Big picture… There’s always a big picture that has to be kept in mind when making organizational-type decisions, and I think that this was one of them.”
Despite emphasizing that he’s confused by the direction the Rangers are going in, Panarin said he’s “ok” with it, accepting his reality and whatever comes with the future.