New York Rangers strike gold with Artemi Panarin signing
The New York Rangers made a bold decision to sign Artemi Panarin and it’s already paying off.
It would be an understatement to say that New York Rangers owner James Dolan is not the most popular sports figure in New York. As the chairman of Madison Square Garden since 1999, Dolan is the owner of New York Rangers and the New York Knicks, as well as the WNBA’s New York Liberty and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
Dolan is mostly known for his horrible mismanagement of the Knicks over the last 20 years. He has received the majority of the blame for the Knicks’ lack of success over that time period, but he usually does not get any of the credit for the success of the Rangers over that same period. His signing of Artemi Panarin may have finally changed that.
James Dolan’s Early Years
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
As the owner of a franchise, Dolan has to approve all transactions made by the executives hired under him. Yes, the general manager typically works all of these transactions, but as a hands-on owner, Dolan is required to approve all of these moves.
Well, it did not look great for the first five years of his ownership. The Rangers only reached the 80 point plateau once, never finished higher than fourth place in the Atlantic Division, and they never reached the playoffs. The unfortunate NHL lockout followed those first five years and the Rangers have seemingly been a different franchise ever since.
Over the next 10 years following the lockout, the Rangers made the playoffs nine out those ten years including a Stanley Cup run in 2014 where they eventually lost to the Los Angeles Kings. Over those years, the franchise made all the right moves to improve and they seemingly improved year after year until the Stanley Cup run.
Still, Dolan’s name got drug through the mud because of the futility of the Knicks. No matter how much success the Rangers had, Dolan was almost solely featured as the owner of the Knicks. That seemed to finally change over this past year.
Dolan Signs Panarin
In 2019, the National Basketball Association had one of their most entertaining free agency periods in the league’s history. The Knicks were involved in rumors regarding almost every big name player, but Dolan didn’t get any of the big fish and he received plenty of backlash for it. It turns out though, Dolan did not completely screw up the 2019 free agency period.
On July 1st 2019, it was announced that Artemi Panarin was going to sign a seven year deal with the New York Rangers. At only 27 years old, Panarin was coming off of an 87 point season for the Columbus Blue Jackets, in which he scored 28 goals and dished out 59 assists.
He was one of the most sought after forwards on the market, and the Rangers reeled him in with a seven year, $81.5 million contract. This contract made him the eighth highest paid player in the 2019-20 NHL season according to Forbes.
This free agent signing has turned out to be one of the best, not just in the NHL, but in all of sports this year. After finishing sixth in the Metropolitan Division in 2018-2019 with 78 points, Panarin has led the Rangers past that mark through only 70 games.
The Rangers currently sit at 79 points and have secured a place in the NHL’s return to play plan, which gives them a legitimate shot at competing for the Stanley Cup.
Panarin finds himself third in the league in points with 95 and third in the league with 68 assists. Him and teammate Mika Zibanejad have really developed a chemistry that had this team rolling through the final two months of the season before play was suspended.
Panarin has absolutely inserted himself into the Hart Trophy conversation, which is awarded to the league’s most valuable player every year. He may fall just short with the exceptional play of other guys like David Pastrnak or Leon Draisaitl, but what he has done for the Rangers cannot be understated.
Next. Every Team's Greatest Player Of All-Time. dark
Regardless of the narrative that has been pushed about Dolan’s legacy as an owner, he absolutely struck gold with the signing of Panarin and that cannot go unnoticed. Dolan’s ownership of the Rangers flies largely under the radar, but it must be recognized that he made the best free agent signing in the NHL this past offseason, and that free agent signing currently has his Rangers in position to compete for a title.