Panarin to the Rangers!!!

Image from https://www.nhl.com/rangers










Well, here we are... after almost a full season of speculation on where the NHL's Breadman would end up, he ended up right in my home state. I AM SO HAPPY!!!!! This is one of the best free agent signings the Rangers have done and for the first time in a long time, I can confidently say the GMs and front office are doing a great job at rebuilding the Rangers. LW Artemi Panarin signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers! 

Let's put this into perspective: after the dismal 2016-17 season, the Rangers start offloading money to open up the cap space for better free agents. I was kind of critical about the Derek Stepan trade that gave the Rangers the #6 pick in that year's draft. It didn't seem smart to get rid of one of our best players at the time. Then came next season, when the fire sale started. When the Rangers sold big by offloading Rick Nash, JT Miller, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Grabner, and Nick Holden, I thought they were selling too much too fast and some of the players they traded away could've been kept. I wasn't sold on the rebuilding phase, especially since rebuilding is never a one-season thing; it goes through multiple seasons with added misery. But as I watched the Rangers struggle to score and get wins, I knew that I had to embrace the rebuild, as shitty as it was. Yet, it seems to paying off; we only had to offload Mats Zuccarello; re-sign Mika Zibanejad and Brady Skjei; draft Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil, K'Andre Miller, and Kaapo Kakko; trade for Jacob Trouba, and to cap it all off (pun intended? you be the judge), signed Artemi Panarin, one of the best players in the world right now. The Rangers turned what could have been a five-season rebuilding project into a two-season gamble that is paying off immensely. They bet high and fell low, but what they got in return was used to their maximum advantage. The Rangers are only two seasons removed from the playoffs so they didn't have to undergo a massive roster overhaul, but general manger Jeff Gorton was a smart man. He turned JT Miller and Ryan McDonagh's trade into five first-round picks that were used on Andersson, Chytil, K'Andre Miller, Kakko, and one used in a trade for Jacob Trouba. He also freed up the cap space for Zibanejad and Skjei's extensions and for Panarin's signature. That is outrageous efficiency. He did it all without having to sacrifice the loyalty and patience of the fans. Gorton should get commended for his efforts. Give that man a raise and a cookie!

Panarin is going to feel right at home with his fellow Russian teammates Vlad Namestikov, Igor Shesterkin, Vitalit Kravtsov and Pavel Buchnevich. He will probably be up on the first line with Zibanejad and Kreider, and will probably play on the same powerplay unit as Kakko and Kravtsov. To think the Rangers were heading down the rebuilding path; suddenly, they look like they're gearing up for a run to the Stanley Cup. I hope that's where they end up and I hope the Breadman can get "The King" Henrik Lundqvist his long-awaited silverware.

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