The Los Angeles Kings won the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes — perhaps by default — sending Liam Greentree and two draft picks to New York before signing the star winger to a two-year, $22 million extension beyond 2025–26.
Both the trade and contract are widely seen as a huge win for GM Ken Holland and the Kings, though some have wondered why the extension was only for two years. There could be several reasons, with Panarin’s age, 34, at the forefront. However, one insider suggested it might be a move to maintain cap flexibility for a potentially star-studded 2028 free-agent class.
Greg Wyshynski of ESPN floated the idea that LA might have held firm on a two-year deal with their sights set on superstars Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, who could hit the market at the end of it.
“In thinking more about why the @LAKings held firm on a two-year extension for Artemi Panarin, I guess there are a couple of reasons why they might want that money off their cap in 2028 … #NHL,”
The 29-year-old McDavid’s two-year, $25 million extension with the Oilers, signed in October, kicks in at the start of the 2026–27 season and expires after the 2027–28 campaign. Meanwhile, Matthews, 28, is in year two of a four-year, $53 million extension signed to stay in Toronto in 2023, also set to expire following the 2027–28 season.
Smart Move by Ken Holland and the Kings
While two and a half years is a lifetime in sports — and so much can change with both McDavid and Matthews in that time — there’s no doubt that Holland’s decision to limit the term on Panarin’s extension was a savvy one.