There was a lot of reporting that suggested the NHL’s two Florida teams may have been the two desired landing spots for Rangers star Artemi Panarin in a trade.

Panarin isn’t going to the Sunshine State, though. He’s going to California, where the Los Angeles Kings landed him in a deal on Wednesday. In the end, neither the Tampa Bay Lightning nor Florida Panthers could pull the trade off.

Earlier reports had suggested Panarin liked both the tax setup in Florida as well as the chance to immediately join a top contender with either the Lightning or Panthers.

It wasn’t meant to be, though.

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ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported the Lightning fell through in part because they may have only viewed Panarin as a rental before heading to free agency in the offseason.

The indication throughout the process was that Panarin was hoping to sign an extension with his new team.

The Panthers were in a similar boat to the Lightning, but the salary cap was giving them an even tougher time.

“Don’t think Panthers ever got close, couldn’t make it work with the cap,” Kaplan wrote on X.

At least for the Florida teams’ sake, Panarin went out to the Western Conference and won’t be giving them too much trouble with some Eastern Conference foe, like the potential of a Washington Capitals deal that had been floated.

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Panarin is still scoring more than a point per game this season at age 34. He would’ve been a big addition for either Tampa Bay or Florida.

In the end, they miss out. The money didn’t quite work. And Panarin heads to California.

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