{"id":435067,"date":"2026-01-29T22:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/435067\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T22:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:44:13","slug":"new-york-rangers-artemi-panarin-open-to-joining-san-jose-sharks-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/435067\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin open to joining San Jose Sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2013 Artemi Panarin has likely played his last game<\/a> with the New York Rangers, with the Eastern Conference\u2019s last-place team expected to keep the star winger and pending unrestricted free agent out of its lineup<\/a> until a trade to a playoff contender is finalized.<\/p>\n

The Sharks, with plenty of future cap space available<\/a> \u2013 at least right now \u2013 and a rich prospect pipeline, are a rumored destination<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s a question of whether the Sharks are prepared to part with the assets needed to acquire Panarin and how much money they\u2019re willing to commit to a long-term contract extension for the forward, who turns 35 in October<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If Panarin is going to waive his full no-movement clause,<\/a>\u00a0his reported preference is to sign an extension with the team he\u2019s joining.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, San Jose Hockey Now<\/a> reported that the Sharks have inquired about Panarin and that the Russian would be open to signing an extension in San Jose. Panarin\u2019s current deal carries a $11.6 million cap hit, and next contract could also be a big one, as his goal, per Sportsnet\u2019s Elliotte Friedman,<\/a> is to ink a deal worth around $50 million, spread out over several years.<\/p>\n

Does that make sense for the Sharks and general manager Mike Grier<\/a>?<\/p>\n

No doubt, Panarin can still produce, as his 266 points in 211 games since the start of the 2023-24 season are sixth-most among<\/a> all NHL players. Putting the skilled Panarin on a line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith for years to come is a tantalizing thought and would probably give the Sharks an added boost to make the playoffs this season for the first time since 2019.<\/p>\n

Still, the Sharks\u2019 stated goal is to build a team that\u2019s a Stanley Cup contender for the long haul. Sending the assets needed \u2013 such as a first-round pick, or a top prospect, or both \u2014 to acquire the aging yet still productive Panarin would seem to run counter to that objective. The Sharks, it appears, are not one player away from legitimately competing for the Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to kind of stay disciplined and look at the not only the here and now, but the medium- and long-term future of the organization and the team,\u201d Grier said on Jan. 22 at the State of the Sharks event at SAP Center for elevated season ticket holders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still developing players. That\u2019s still where we are in this project as players are developing. But at the same time, if we can push a little bit, we\u2019ll try and push a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grier pointed to the acquisition of Kiefer Sherwood<\/a> for two second-round draft picks as an example of pushing things forward, as he sees the hard-nosed winger, also a pending UFA, as a fit with the team now and into the future.<\/p>\n

But Sherwood will not cost nearly as much to keep as Panarin, raising the question of whether spending the kind of money needed to re-sign the elite winger is the best use of the Sharks\u2019 salary cap space?<\/p>\n

The Sharks\u2019 biggest problem this year hasn\u2019t been offense (although they could use some more scoring balance); it\u2019s been keeping the puck out of their net. Bolstering the blue line would seem to be the Sharks\u2019 biggest area of need, with still only two defensemen signed past this season.<\/p>\n

Before Thursday\u2019s meeting with the Edmonton Oilers, the Sharks ranked 29th in the NHL with 3.43 goals allowed per game. San Jose was also 24th in the league with 116 goals allowed during 5-on-5 play.<\/p>\n

Conversely, on offense, the Sharks were 17th in goals scored per game (3.12), with Celebrini in on roughly half of San Jose\u2019s 161 goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone\u2019s looking for (defensemen) that can defend hard and defend the rush, be hard around the net,\u201d Grier said last week. \u201cIf you talk to every team in the league, I think that\u2019s what they\u2019re looking for, because you\u2019ve got to defend. You\u2019ve got to be hard around your net, then you\u2019ve got to be able to exit your zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are things we\u2019re looking at that\u2019s probably no different than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sharks\u2019 last game before the Olympic break is on Feb. 4, the first day of the NHL roster freeze where no trades are allowed. The freeze ends on Feb. 22, and the Sharks play just four more games after that point before the March 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n

The Sharks, somewhat surprisingly, entered Thursday in the Western Conference\u2019s second wild-card spot.<\/p>\n

Grier is aware of the need to round out the roster. Maybe he can add Panarin and also do what he feels he needs to do elsewhere. Time will tell.<\/p>\n

Grier said the team\u2019s success to this point hasn\u2019t changed his approach to this season, as he said last week that he didn\u2019t want to \u201cbe short sighted and make decisions and moves that in two or three years, you\u2019re not happy with, and sets us back a little bit. So, for me, it hasn\u2019t really changed my outlook too much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2013 Artemi Panarin has likely played his last game with the New York Rangers, with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,2614,1180,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36,168,2615,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-435067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-inside-sports","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-rangers","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkrangers","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-rangers","17":"tag-san-jose-sharks","18":"tag-sharks-alert","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115980813288447871","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}