Panarin Problems for the Rangers

Accusations lead to star winger taking a leave of absence

Feb 22, 2021

Star winger Artemi Panarin is taking a leave of absence from the New York Rangers.

According to former NHL enforcer and Panarin’s coach in the KHL, Andrei Nazarov, Panarin allegedly assaulted an 18-year-old woman in Russia years ago and whether it’s true or not there is some speculation that this is a hit job on Panarin after he expressed support for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is the loudest critic of Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

As a result, Panarin has taken a leave of absence from the New York Rangers and there are a lot of unknowns. Isabelle Khurshudyan, who was a Washington Capitals beat writer and is now a Washington Post foreign correspondent in Moscow, notes that Panarin has been critical of Putin but that this didn’t seem to be blowing up in such a way that would force him to take this leave, while allowing that there could be more involved.

Isabelle Khurshudyan @ikhurshudyan

This is kind of odd. Panarin has been critical of Kremlin, but while this story made some headlines here in Russia today, it also didn’t seem like it was getting so much attention as to pressure him to take a leave in NY. There could be more to it, too. https://t.co/KdsylUhrY3

Larry Brooks @NYP_Brooksie

Breaking news: Panarin is taking a leave of absence from NYR in aftermath of political hit piece against him from Russia alleging that he beat up an 18-year-old girl in Russia in 2011.

Well, obviously the issues behind the allegations are very serious and ought to be investigated but, at the same time, let’s not pretend that Andrei Nazarov is a reliable narrator. That puts this all under some cloud of doubt.

Larry Brooks @NYP_Brooksie

Retribution was feared after Panarin's Instagram post on 1/21 in support of opposition leader Alexi Navalny with caption "Freedom for Navalny." Panarin, who has family in Russia, has been outspoken against Putin.

So while it should be investigated, there is also the matter of what this means immediately to the New York Rangers. Panarin is, by a comfortable margin, the best player on the team – a consistent play driving winger who creates chances and is skilled enough to finish them.

Since arriving in the league in 2015-2016, Panarin has scored 433 points, the sixth-highest total in the league over that time, behind only Connor McDavid, Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl, and Brad Marchand.

The biggest beneficiary on the Rangers of playing with Panarin has been center Ryan Strome, and a Panarin absence would have a negative impact on Strome’s production. Young wingers Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere have also played with him quite a bit this season. Maybe with Panarin out that would create an opening for Lafreniere to play more but he is sitting on just two goals and zero assists in 16 games despite averaging 14:32 of ice time per game already. Will a couple of more minutes of ice time per game be the answer?

Ultimately, Panarin’s absence will also have a negative impact on the Rangers goaltenders because, simply, they are less likely to win when he is out of the lineup. This is a complicated issue, both because the allegations are heinous but also because there are fair questions to ask about those making the allegations. For as long as this impacts Artemi Panarin, it will surely have a significant impact on the New York Rangers.

SUNDAY GAMES

Scott Cullen @ByScottCullen

Pasta

Philadelphia 3 Boston 7

BOS RW David Pastrnak 3 G (4 G, 2 A in past 3 GP)

BOS LW Nick Ritchie 1 G, 1 A (5 G, 7 A in past 13 GP)

BOS LW Brad Marchand 2 A (8 G, 9 A in past 13 GP)

BOS RW Craig Smith 2 A

BOS D Connor Clifton 2 A

BOS D John Moore 2 A

PHI LW James van Riemsdyk 1 G, 2 A (5 G, 11 A in past 9 GP)

PHI C Sean Couturier 1 G, 1 A (3 G, 4 A in 5 GP)

PHI C Kevin Hayes 2 A (6 G, 9 A in 15 GP)

BOS RW David Pastrnak was on the ice for four goals for and none against while BOS LW Brad Marchand was also on the ice for three goals for and none against. BOS D Connor Clifton was on the ice for four goals for and one against during 5-on-5 play.

New Jersey 3 Washington 4

WSH RW T.J. Oshie 2 G, 1 A (2 G, 3 A in past 4 GP)

WSH D John Carlson 1 G, 1 A

WSH C Nicklas Backstrom 2 A (6 G, 12 A in past 13 GP)

NJ LW Andreas Johnsson 1 G, 1 A (3 G, 2 A in past 6 GP)

NJ RW Kyle Palmieri 2 A (3 G, 3 A in past 4 GP)

Montreal 2 Ottawa 3 (OT)

OTT LW Brady Tkachuk 1 G, 1 A (3 G, 2 A in past 5 GP)

OTT RW Drake Batherson 1 G, 1 A (3 G, 1 A in past 4 GP)

Winnipeg 4 Vancouver 3 (OT)

VAN C Elias Pettersson 2 G (6 G, 8 A in past 14 GP)

VAN LW J.T. Miller 2 A (1 G, 4 A in past 4 GP)

WPG LW Pierre-Luc Dubois 2 G, 1 A

WPG C Mark Scheifele 1 G, 2 A (7 G, 9 A during a 10-game point streak)

WPG RW Blake Wheeler 3 A (1 G, 4 A in past 4 GP)

Digging Deep

FLA C Alexander Wennberg has scored seven points (5 G, 2 A) in the past eight games, a wild goal-scoring surge. 2017-2018 was the last time that he scored more than five goals in an entire season and he had eight in 66 games that year. While he is not going to keep scoring at a huge rate, because his shot rates are still low, Wennberg is playing regularly with Jonathan Huberdeau and that alone makes a player interesting for fantasy purposes. (4% Yahoo)

Also, he’s owned in a bit more than 5% but take a look at Ducks forward Trevor Zegras. He has been called up after scoring nine points (4 G, 5 A) in eight AHL games.