Artemi Panarin Trade Buzz: Insider Names 4 Potential Landing Spots

The NHL trade deadline is less than two months away (March 6), and with the Olympic break—and the subsequent roster freeze—fast approaching, teams are running out of time to decide whether to buy or sell.

With the standings still tightly packed, clear-cut sellers are few and far between as of January 12. That said, some clubs’ playoff hopes are already slipping, one of those being the New York Rangers, which, as a result, has amplified trade buzz around Artemi Panarin.

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Extension talks between Panarin and the Rangers don’t appear to be all that close, so each and every loss makes it more likely that the superstar winger could be flipped in the coming weeks.

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman offered the latest insight on the situation during Monday’s episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, highlighting four contenders to watch as potential landing spots.

Friedman said:

“If you are waving the white flag on the season—and I’m not sure they’re yet doing that—I think at some point you have to go to him and his reps and say, are there some teams we can work with here. Are there some places where you would be willing to go? Obviously, you always wonder about a team like Florida. You wonder about a team like Washington. You think about places where you think Russian players might want to go. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been wondering about Minnesota because Kaprizov is there, and they’re represented by the same agent. The other team I really wonder about is Colorado. Don’t forget when he signed with New York, Colorado offered him something like 4 X $13 million,”

The 34-year-old Panarin has been very productive once again in 2025-26, having tallied 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 45 games played so far. He’s, of course, a pending UFA in the seventh and final season of the seven-year, $81,499,999 contract he signed to join the Rangers in free agency of 2019.

Who Else Could Target Artemi Panarin?

While Florida, Washington, Minnesota, and Colorado all make sense for Panarin, the list of interested teams surely doesn’t stop there.

Carolina is always in the mix when a big name becomes available, Dallas the same, and Detroit has the allure of a reunion with Patrick Kane. Not to mention dark horse landing spots like Los Angeles, Montreal, and Buffalo, all of whom are lurking in the weeds in search of adding more talent.

Given his consistent elite production into his mid-thirties, it’s safe to say more teams want Panarin than don’t. New York was holding out hope for a turnaround, but injuries to Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin have largely derailed those plans. Because of that, there’s a very good chance we see one of the game’s best wingers on the move ahead of the trade deadline.

Next: Part 2: 5 Other Superstars Who Could Be On The Move In the Foreseeable Future