The Rangers have traded Artemi Panarin to the LA Kings for a conditional third round pick and prospect Liam Greentree. (Schfeter)
He was considered LA’s top prospect.
Greentree, a RW, is 6-3, 216 and was the 26th pick overall in 2024 by LA.
Last season in the OHL he had 49 goals and 70 assists in 64 games. He had 14 goals and 10 assists in 11 playoff games in the OHL.
This season he has 23 goals and 22 assists in 34 games.
Panarin signed a two-year extension worth $11 million per season. (Friedman) He reportedly turned down bigger offers to go to LA. (Seravalli)
The conditions on the draft pick are:
- Conditional 2026 Third Round pick becomes a 2026 Second Round Pick if LA wins one playoff round. The Rangers would get the better of either LA or Columbus’ second round pick.
- The Rangers will also get a conditional 4th round pick in 2028 if LA wins two playoff rounds.
The Rangers are retaining half of Panarin’s salary.
Adam Rotter: And that officially ends the Artemi Panarin era. Panarin is not just one of the greatest free agent signings the Rangers have ever had, he’s one of the best players in Rangers history and if things were better this season and he extended, his number would almost certainly have been retired.
He put up 205 goals and 402 assists in 482 career games to rank #1 in points per game in team history. He was an electric player and the Rangers will struggle to find someone who can replace his offense. But this was a move that had to be made as the Rangers enter this re-tool.
As for the return. It seems underwhelming but it also seems like LA was the only team he wanted to go to and that left the Rangers with little leverage. The hope was that Panarin would be amendable to multiple places and the Rangers could then get a better return, but Panarin only wanted LA and that left the Rangers with only one option. The only other thing they could have done was hold onto him through the Olympic break and hope he considers other options, but if he was set on LA that wasn’t going to change. Panarin was in control because of the no-movement clause the Rangers gave him and he used it. That he only ends up signing a two-year extension is interesting since all reports indicated he wanted more, but, again, if LA is where he wanted to be, then he ends up getting his wish and certainty for the rest of this season plus two more.
Greentree is the Kings top prospect and seems to be a prolific offensive player in the OHL and while he made Team Canada for the World Juniors, he only played in three games and had one assist. He’s someone that could potentially play games depending on how his OHL season turns out but his Windsor team is currently in first place. As a top prospect there is certainly a level of excitement around him, but at the same time, the Rangers are only in their current spot because so many of their top prospects since the last rebuild either didn’t work out or never lived up to their potential. Still, he’s someone that could potentially make an impact as soon as next season.
Where it gets frustrating is with the picks and Drury not even getting a future first round pick. Again, LA had the leverage since that is where Panarin wanted to go, but not even getting their second round pick and making that conditional based upon how LA performs seems like a miss. Maybe it was Greentree or a First and Drury chose the player closer to making the NHL than someone that might be 2-3 years away, or maybe LA just said that this was the offer and the Rangers had to take it. It’s a disappointing return that even a 2028 top-1o protected or something pick wasn’t part of the deal but this is the deal and seemingly like Chris Drury, we need to accept it.