1/15/26 | Darren Dreger said on Insider Trading of the path the Rangers may take, “I think management is hoping to have all of that mapped out before the Olympic break. There is a lot to work through if you are Chris Drury and the New York Rangers. We know that injuries played a role and are a factor in the outcome of some of these games but they just can’t keep the puck out of the net. Defending has been a problem for much of this year and I know that early in the season he was looking for help on his blueline. Now he is looking for all options to be presented to stop the bleeding and booing at MSG. That takes us to Artemi Panarin. It doesn’t sound like there is a whole lot of activity in terms of a negotiation on an extension so if they are willing or want to ask Panarin to waive his no-move clause what is the reaction going to be there? They are hoping to find that out before the Olympic break as well.
Chris Johnston said on Insider Trading that in discussions the Rangers were having with Vancouver about pending UFA winger Kiefer Sherwood they offered “a young player with pedigree and a second round pick” and that wasn’t enough to get it done.
1/12/26 | Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts that if there isn’t a path to an extension for the Rangers and Panarin then the Rangers will have to “gingerly” ask Panarin if they can work on a trade together.
1/10/26 | During the first intermission of today’s Rangers/Bruins game, Emily Kaplan said:
“Chris Drury has the owners full support to do whatever he thinks this team needs. As of now they are still pushing for the playoffs and up until the injuries to Shesterkin and Fox they were looking to add but this is a critical month before the Olympic break and if they are not within reach of the playoffs then the expectation around the league is that the Rangers could be in for a mini-retool. The biggest question is Artemi Panarin. He was eligible for an extension this summer, we are now in January and I’ve been told that those talks have gone nowhere. Neither side has closed the door but we are trending right now for what was the best free agent signing in Rangers history to leave. It’s important to remember that Panarin has a full no-movement clause, so he has control but at some point the Rangers have to have a conversation, ‘can we work with you on a trade?’ They have not broached that conversation yet, again, this is only if they are out of the playoff mix and I do not expect anything to happen until the Olympic break.”
1/10/26 | Adam Rotter: It’s not even really a question at this point. They need to sell. I’m sure James Dolan would love at least two home playoff games for the money it would bring in, and with Igor Shesterkin you never know, but it’s not worth it to keep some of this group together and let them leave for nothing.
I imagine that Artemi Panarin would prefer another chance to win rather than stick it out, and if he really wants to stay he can either sign for less money and less years now or they can revisit it in the offseason. The hope was that bringing in Mike Sullivan would spark enough change to bring the Rangers back to the playoffs but that hasn’t happened and so they need to go back to the drawing board a bit. Sullivan and Drury aren’t going anywhere so they will need to figure out what the best path forward is because otherwise it could get even uglier.