{"id":444400,"date":"2026-02-04T02:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T02:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/444400\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T02:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T02:33:18","slug":"one-thing-is-clear-during-rangers-artemi-panarin-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/444400\/","title":{"rendered":"One thing is clear during Rangers’ Artemi Panarin uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Artemi Panarin drama dragged on through Tuesday\u2019s Rangers practice in Tarrytown, with the team \u2014 and Panarin \u2014 waiting for a resolution to his status<\/a>, now that he\u2019s certain to be traded.<\/p>\n

With the Rangers in the middle of an unusual four-day break in their schedule, Mike Sullivan gave many of the team\u2019s key and veteran players a day off the ice.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Rangers, who have lost their past three games and six of seven as their downfall escalates, will get some clarity by Wednesday afternoon\u2019s league-wide roster freeze before the Olympic break.<\/p>\n

Sullivan said he spoke with Panarin on Monday as Panarin works out away from the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s good,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said. \u201cHe is continuing to skate on his own schedule. We\u2019ll continue to control what we can until the business side resolves itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panarin hasn\u2019t played since Jan. 26<\/a>, as the Rangers work to deal him to a desirable spot, with Panarin owning full no-trade power.<\/p>\n

The absence of Panarin made clear the Rangers\u2019 intentions for the rest of the season, as they had already fallen out of serious playoff contention.<\/p>\n

Now, though, it\u2019s hard to see where the wins will come from.<\/p>\n

\"RangersRangers left wing Artemi Panarin (10) reacts after he scores a goal earlier this season. Bill Kostroun<\/p>\n

The Rangers host Carolina on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in their final game before the Olympic break.<\/p>\n

The roster freeze will be lifted Feb. 22, prior to the March 6 trade deadline, so if Panarin isn\u2019t moved by Wednesday, this stalemate will go on for a while.<\/p>\n

Asked about the impact on the rest of the team, Sullivan said, \u201cThese guys are human beings and of course it does [have an impact]. The uncertainty is not easy. The other aspect is these guys built relationships. \u2026 The business side of the game can be the most difficult. We all understand it. It\u2019s what we signed up for, but that doesn\u2019t make it easy. That\u2019s just the reality of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArtemiArtemi Panarin of the New York Rangers and Tony DeAngelo of the New York Islanders on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

And the reality for the Rangers is that they sit deep in the cellar of the Eastern Conference and no team in the league has won fewer games at home than the six by the Rangers at the Garden.<\/p>\n

On top of that, they\u2019ve won just three games since Christmas.<\/p>\n

So expect more time from many of the younger players, including on special teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already happening out of necessity,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said of the team\u2019s more inexperienced players. \u201cIt gives us an opportunity to assess where people are at and what we have and how we can help them improve. And they\u2019re playing elevated roles. Will it continue to occur? I envision it would, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which likely means a lot more losses down the stretch.<\/p>\n

But Sullivan said the team will make the best of the situation, regardless of who\u2019s on the roster \u2014 both before and after the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just the reality of it,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said. \u201cI think guys have done a great job as far as trying to compartmentalize their emotions. We\u2019re gonna work hard every day and get better. This unique circumstance is providing opportunities for some guys and they need to look at that to maximize that opportunity through performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we will control what we can as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

And hope it pays dividends down the road, as some of the newcomers get more comfortable at the NHL level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re forced to have to think and act quickly in this league,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s required to have success. That\u2019s one of the hurdles or challenges for a young player to establish himself in the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Artemi Panarin drama dragged on through Tuesday\u2019s Rangers practice in Tarrytown, with the team \u2014 and Panarin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5111],"tags":[3039,5,2310,3328,35,5190,5193,4,548,36,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-444400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-artemi-panarin","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-mike-sullivan-nhl","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-rangers","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkrangers","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-nhl-trade-deadline","17":"tag-rangers","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116010025768327357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444400","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=444400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}