\u201cYou learn a lot from him in how he slows the game down and how he\u2019s not the fastest guy in the world, but he\u2019s able to just, with his eyes, control the play and how he\u2019s able to slow the game down through the neutral zone,\u201d Vincent Trocheck told The Post. \u201cWhen he gets in the zone, guys back off, even though he\u2019s not coming [with] 30 miles-an-hour speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head coach Mike Sullivan said Panarin is the type of player who challenges coaches because \u201cthey\u2019re not always gonna play the game plan to the letter of the law, so to speak.\u201d He could go off the grid, stray from the script and trust his own instincts while also being two steps ahead of everyone else on the ice.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-rangers-center-mika-123264147_75f414.jpg\")
Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
Trocheck experienced Panarin\u2019s style while on a line with him throughout the last three-plus seasons, in addition to the time they spent together on the power play, and watched as Panarin sent passes to linemates in order to set up the next pass to the next Rangers player.<\/p>\n
Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re, Trocheck said, learned a lot from Panarin, too, as typically the third member of their line. Zibanejad became the primary beneficiary of Panarin\u2019s instincts on the power play, getting set up for shot after shot that led to goal after goal. Gabe Perreault, the 20-year-old winger who grew up in Chicago watching Panarin, witnessed how he\u2019d create just enough time to make a play.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s where you\u2019ve got to understand how he wanted to play the game,\u201d Zibanejad said. \u201cFor me, playing with him, the way he sets me up, a lot for me was for the shot, right, but he also sets it up in a way where if I don\u2019t have the shot, he gives me an opportunity to make a next play. Or, if he doesn\u2019t give it to me, then there\u2019s another reason behind it. \u2026 He doesn\u2019t try putting you in bad spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his departure, the Rangers needed to rely on their younger talent to fill the void. Perreault has thrived on the first line<\/a>. Lafreni\u00e8re has flourished with 15 points across 13 games and keeps extending one of the best stretches of his career.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sullivan didn\u2019t bite at the notion that Panarin\u2019s exit has provided a chance for others to operate with more assertiveness, but added \u201cwhat it does do is it will allow other players opportunities to play a more prominent role.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rangers strung together four consecutive wins entering Panarin\u2019s return, their longest streak since October of last season.<\/p>\n Their next era will look different without Panarin, though. His skill set made him a critical piece for so long. It allowed him to finish fifth in the Hart Trophy voting after a 120-point season in 2023-24, and it will be so difficult for the Blueshirts to replace, too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have some offensive people that are gonna act on their instincts and they\u2019re gonna go off the grid a little bit,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cMaybe not quite as much as a guy like [Panarin], but I think we still have offensive people that have the ability to produce or create out there just through their own offensive instincts \u2014 and we\u2019re trying to allow for that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe, Mika Zibanejad said, already seeing the highlights of Artemi Panarin wearing a Kings jersey would help Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5126],"tags":[3039,5,186,1760,240,5303,793,145,5304,5302,160,35,4,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-508899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-kings","8":"tag-artemi-panarin","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-kings","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-kings","13":"tag-lakings","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-kings","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangeleskings","18":"tag-mika-zibanejad","19":"tag-new-york-rangers","20":"tag-nhl","21":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116248024443391749","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508899","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=508899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Artemi](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/artemi-panarin-10-los-angeles-123511678.jpg\")
Artemi Panarin #10 of the Los Angeles Kings skates against the New York Islanders during the first period at UBS Arena on March 13, 2026 Getty Images<\/p>\n