New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin is currently the biggest name on the trade market. He’s been informed by the Rangers’ front office that they have no intention of re-signing him, and have given permission to him and his agent to seek out a team or teams they are comfortable with trading him to in order to facilitate a deal from there.
Panarin is 34 years old; his seven-year, $11.6 million contract carries a full no-move clause and will expire on July 1. He’s scored 57 points (19-38=57) in 52 games in 2025-26, and he’s on pace to tally his ninth consecutive season of scoring north of a point-per-game, indicating he has several productive seasons left in the tank.
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The Rangers have announced that they will scratch Panarin until at least the Feb. 4 Olympic roster freeze, alleviating the risk of injury. He’s only missed nine games in the last four seasons.
The Anaheim Ducks are reported to have “looked around” at the possibility of acquiring Panarin. On Thursday, multiple NHL insiders reported that Panarin and his agent, Paul Theofanous, are seeking out at least a four-year extension at a $10-12 million AAV with his new team as part of the potential trade, and they’ve reached out to Anaheim as a desired destination.
TSN and The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported on TSN’s “Early Trading” that Panarin’s representation has reached out to all three California teams, showing interest, but the Ducks are “out.”
“The Panarin camp has reached out to all three California teams (Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks),” LeBrun said. “With the Ducks, there’s the Joel Quenneville connection from their time together in Chicago. But, I’m told the Ducks are out right now, and I’m told the reason is the extension doesn’t make sense for them.
“They’ve got a lot of young core guys to sign here in the next year or two, and spending four years and $10-11 million, whatever you think the extension will end up at, doesn’t really make sense for Anaheim. So, I have Anaheim out.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman spoke on Panarin and the Ducks on Sportsnet’s “The Fan Hockey Show,” stating the Ducks would have rather traded for him without an extension in place.
“Panarin would like to have an extension as part of this. They’ve (Panarin and his agent) reached out to the Ducks. I think he was pretty interested. But I’ve heard Anaheim is not likely because the Ducks’ preference is not to do an extension right away,” Friedman said. “That they would like to see how the fit goes, potentially. That means it’s likely not going to happen there. That’s what I’ve heard as of last night (Jan. 28). And just a reminder, all of these things can kind of change.”
LeBrun reiterated his own report and echoed Friedman on TSN’s “Insider Trading” as well. As it stands, the Ducks are reported to be unwilling to extend Panarin, given the core talent they’ll have to resign in the summer of 2026 and beyond.
“(The trade) most likely involves teams that aren’t scared to sign a 34-year-old player to a four-year extension to perhaps a double-digit AAV,” LeBrun said on where the most likely landing spot is for Panarin. “That’s what we think the extension will be if this gets done. I’m told if the extension is paramount, the Ducks are out right now. They don’t want to sign that money to a veteran player when they’ve got young pieces to sign.”
The Ducks have over $27.2 million in current cap space and are projected to have over $39.2 million in cap space come July 1. Jacob Trouba, Ross Johnston, Radko Gudas, Ryan Poehling, Jansen Harkins, Petr Mrazek, and Jeffrey Viel will all become unrestricted free agents if they’re unsigned by July 1.
The most significant items on the agenda will be the next contracts of pending restricted free agents Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier, along with Ian Moore, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger, who will be restricted free agents along the blueline. Those contracts could eat up a sizable chunk of that projected cap space, reportedly enough to detract Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek from acquiring Panarin.
Among the most-mentioned teams involved in the Panarin trade rumors at the moment are the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Carolina Hurricanes.
Verbeek has reportedly struggled to acquire a star or marquee talent on the free agent or trade markets during his time as Ducks GM. He was reportedly interested in Alex DeBrincat before he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 2023. On July 1, 2024, he reportedly offered then free agents Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault each more term and AAV than the contracts they eventually signed with the Nashville Predators.
It’s worth noting that an available star player (Panarin) now reportedly would prefer to play for Anaheim for the next four-plus seasons, and the Ducks are reportedly the ones uninterested. The New York Rangers are reportedly asking for a similar return that the New York Islanders received for center Brock Nelson at the 2025 trade deadline. Nelson was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Calum Ritchie (an A-/B+ prospect) and a first-round pick.
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