Artemi Panarin is taking Saturday's news that he will not be offered a contract extension in stride.
The New York Rangers' longtime franchise player addressed reporting from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that he will not be extended and that the team is looking to work with him on a trade after a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
“It's hard to say how I feel," said Panarin to reporters after the game, according to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic. "I’m still confused, but the GM decided to go in a different direction. I'm OK with that. I’m a Rangers player right now, so I’ll play every game 100 per cent.”
Panarin had two goals and an assist against the Flyers, bringing his team-leading point total to 51 on the season (16 goals, 35 assists).
"I think to have the game he had today, after the last couple days, is, once again, he's one of the guys I'm talking about when I talk about the types of people we have in the room, their character and how much they care," said Rangers coach Mike Sullivan after the game.
"I think his game today was representative of that. He's a great person, he's an elite player, he drives offence in so many ways and he continued to do that for us tonight."
Friday afternoon Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury released a statement about the team's disappointing season. New York is last in the Eastern Conference with a 21-22-6 record after narrowly missing out on the playoffs in 2024-25.
Drury wrote that the organization would undergo “a retool built around our core players and prospects."
“This will not be a rebuild,” the letter added.
According to Friedman, Panarin was informed that Drury "was prepared to work with him and agent Paul Theofanous to trade the winger anywhere he wishes to go."
Panarin, 34, has a full no-movement clause in his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
1:40
1:07
3:56